“Disagreement converts the plausible into the right, and the right into the good decision” — Peter Drucker
You can learn from people you disagree with. You can learn from people whose ideology you stridently oppose. You can learn from people who are your political opponents. In my three terms as a student in the university called Parliament, this kind of learning has been an enormously educative experience.
Arun Jaitley was the original raconteur in what was then Central Hall (now, sadly, turned into a museum). From cricket to fountain pens, from anecdotes about television anchors to path-breaking Supreme Court judgments, “Koffee With Jaitley” was always special.
One Friday afternoon in 2015 was extra special. Rajya Sabha took up Tiruchi Siva’s Private Member’s Bill on transgender rights. The Treasury Bench tried to convince Siva to withdraw his Bill. But when Siva refused, and asked for a Division (electronic voting), Jaitley addressed the House. He said that the Bill “expresses the sentiment of the House. And the House by voice vote will agree to the sentiment”. This was the first time in 45 years a Private Member’s Bill was passed in the House. Historic. Later, Siva thanked Jaitley for his timely intervention. That was 2015. Parliament has changed.
Arun Jaitley often recounted the advice L K Advani had given him in 1999 when he first entered Parliament, “When you speak in Parliament or outside, speak on issues, avoid making it personal.” Jaitley admits, “Of course I have breached this rule once in a while, but I have tried to follow it as far as possible.”
Yet, his legacy will always be smudged by the electoral bonds scheme, which the Supreme Court struck down in 2024 as unconstitutional. The hasty implementation of GST happened under his watch. In two years of its implementation, there was 32 per cent job loss in the micro segment, 35 per cent in the small businesses segment, and 43 per cent in the trader segment.
Prakash Javadekar held multiple portfolios, but it was his six-month stint (May-November 2014) as Minister of State, Parliamentary Affairs, which has stayed with me. Javadekar is a genteel and affable man, popular with even the Opposition (cynics would say that is why he lost his job!). When Parliament was in session, he would spend more time with members from the Opposition parties than with the Treasury benches. Listening to concerns, devising strategies to ensure smooth running of Parliament. And that is how it should be if a government wants Parliament to function.
Many senior parliamentarians recall that Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi, who was the Parliamentary Affairs Minister from 2005 to 2008, worked in the same way. Prakash was usually far-removed from controversy, yet during his stint as the Human Resource Development minister, he drew the ire of educational institutions when he said, “Some schools come to the government with a begging bowl asking for funds”.
Sushma Swaraj was the first woman Chief Minister of Delhi, the second woman to hold the External Affairs portfolio after Indira Gandhi, first to hold it full-time, and a debater who sparkled. When I became a Member of Parliament, a rookie, she was already an accomplished senior.
In our interactions, limited to fleeting moments in the lobbies of the Lok Sabha or the Rajya Sabha, she would always greet even newbies with a smile and a very personal “Hello (and your first name)”. In June 2015, she courted controversy when there were allegations against her of helping economic offender Lalit Modi to travel to the United Kingdom in 2014.
P P Chaudhary is certainly the BJP’s favourite MP to chair parliamentary committees. In the last few years, he has headed four of them. This columnist was also part of the JPC constituted for the Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019. Critics and supporters both agree that this Committee had one of the more high-pressure mandates in Parliament. The Personal Data Protection Bill (now replaced with Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023, rules still awaited!) was a critical piece of legislation that would have fundamentally affected our behaviour on the internet. PP, he is fondly called, was Chairman for only the last five months of functioning. In each meeting of the Committee, he would approach the subject of data governance with objectivity. This often meant diverse, contradictory opinions. PP always ensured each opinion was heard and placed on record.
In recent years, there is enough evidence to suggest that the BJP has been using JPCs to set narratives, rather than to truly improve the quality of legislation. Between 2014 and 2024, Parliament set up 11 JPCs. Of these, the motion for constituting a JPC was adopted on the last day of the Parliament session in seven cases. To add perspective, between 2004 and 2014, three JPCs were set up. None of them were adopted on the last day.
Overheard in the Parliament cafeteria: Colleagues giving credit to this columnist for a tactic the Opposition now uses in Rajya Sabha. Try to make your point, and if the Chairperson does not pay heed, walk out in protest for just 10 minutes. Then rejoin the proceedings. Sitaram Yechury taught me this.
The writer is MP and leader, All India Trinamool Congress Parliamentary Party. Additional research: Ayashman Dey, Varnika Mishra
