Decorum, debate on Ansari agenda

Newly elected Vice-President Hamid Ansari received a warm welcome as the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha on Monday with leaders expressing hope...

Newly elected Vice-President Hamid Ansari received a warm welcome as the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha on Monday with leaders expressing hope that the Upper House during his tenure would live up to its role “as the Council of States”.

Ansari spoke little and the only time he was audible was when he asked CPI(M) MP Brinda Karat to take her seat and let NDA’s vice-presidential nominee Najma Heptulla speak. Karat was objecting to Heptulla’s reference to the “Left”—the latter had actually told Ansari that she knew, as a zoologist, that the human heart is on the left side, and therefore, she hoped he would look to his left (where the Opposition members sit) in his role as the Chairman of the House.

While Leader of the Opposition Jaswant Singh used the opportunity to criticise the treasury benches, Independent and nominated MPs, smaller regional parties pleaded with Ansari to give them adequate opportunities to speak up on important issues as they represent the states and the common man. Former RBI Governor Bimal Jalan pointed out that the Upper House was “supposed to represent states, not parties”.

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Initiating the round of congratulatory speeches that ended with recently nominated member Kapila Vatsayan, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh expressed confidence in Ansari’s wide-ranging experience as a diplomat and an educationist. He said it would “provide guidance and balance to the proceedings of the House”.

The PM also expressed concern over the repeated disruptions in the House and the “regrettable unwillingness” of the members to engage in informed discussion. “I hope we can restore to this House a sense of decorum that is expected of the Elders,” he said.

Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree said the designation gives law enforcement “enhanced powers to combat a group that has instilled fear through violence and intimidation”.

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