The best time to give advice is to speak to a chair in front of you with nobody sitting on it. Empty chairs have arms. No ears, no minds, no conscience. Tell an empty chair anything and it will listen. And that’s precisely what I have planned to do in this column — give gyan to an empty chair. There is a vacant seat to be filled. The chair of India’s second-highest constitutional office will have a new occupant soon. The Vice President of India, as we learnt in civics books in school, chairs the Council of States. Before the monsoon recedes, we will have a new full-time presiding officer seated in the Rajya Sabha.
As a student of parliamentary democracy, let me — you guessed it — offer some suggestions to an empty chair. (Will be filled on the election of the 15th Vice President of India.)
Take ‘Notice’ of the Opposition
An important tool that enables MPs in the Opposition to hold the Union government accountable is to submit Notices seeking discussions on important issues. There has been a steep decline in the number of notices being accepted and then discussed on the floor of Parliament. In the eight years between 2009 and 2016, 110 notices were admitted into the Rajya Sabha for discussions. In the next eight years, between 2017 and 2024, that number dropped to an abysmal 36.
Rule 267 of the Rajya Sabha states that a member may ask the Chair to suspend the business listed for the day, and instead take up a discussion on an issue of urgent national importance. Under the watch of Venkaiah Naidu and Jagdeep Dhankar, in eight years, not even one discussion was allowed under this rule.
Stop mass suspension of MPs
In December 2023, 146 MPs were suspended from Parliament, 100 of these were from the Lok Sabha. A dubious record. For context, during the 10 years of UPA I and UPA II, a total of 50 MPs were suspended.
This mass suspension in 2023 was because Opposition MPs were demanding a statement from the Home Minister on the security breach in Parliament.
Choosing Vice Chairs
The Chairperson has the prerogative to nominate six members as Vice Chair to preside over the Rajya Sabha in the absence of the Chair or Deputy Chair. In the last two years, about 30 MPs were included in the panel to perform this duty. This must not be looked at as a perk. Nor can it be a game of musical chairs. Two suggestions here. (i) Only those MPs with considerable experience should be chosen to perform this duty. (ii) The political party they are in needs to be (informally) consulted before names are announced.
Do not censor protests by the Opposition
Visuals of Opposition MPs protesting inside Parliament are not shown on the government-run Sansad TV. Cameras and online edits of the proceedings only show the Treasury Benches. Is this fair?
Ensure more Bills are sent for scrutiny
When a Bill is referred to a parliamentary committee, it goes through critical examination with stakeholders and experts being consulted. This scrutiny often helps improve the quality of legislation.
In the 14th Lok Sabha (2004-09), six out of 10 bills were sent to various committees for scrutiny. In the 15th Lok Sabha, it was seven out of 10. In the 16th Lok Sabha this number fell to around three out of ten. In the 17th Lok Sabha (2019-24), only two out of 10 Bills were examined by a parliamentary committee.
Let MPs exercise constitutional rights
When a bill is being passed in Parliament, each Member can move amendments to the Bill. When the amendments are being moved in the House, the Member has an absolute right to ask for “division” (electronic voting). In the last few years, there are multiple examples of members being denied this right. Several MPs, including your columnist, asked for division during the passing of the contentious farm bills. The right was denied.
Must accept points of order
A point of order can be raised by any member when she feels that there has been a transgression of any rule in the House which the Chair has not taken cognisance of. The rules state that whenever such instances occur, members “can and should” bring such instances to the notice of the Chair.
Raising a point of order is a legitimate parliamentary tactic. The Chair cannot, and must not, look away.
Do away with birthday greetings
Not long ago, the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha introduced the practice of wishing MPs on their birthdays. Good thought or an avoidable self-indulgence?
Wishing 200 plus members every year, at two minutes a member, adds up to over 400 minutes. Maybe this time can be used by Parliament to discuss important issues facing the nation.
These are eight suggestions to an empty Chair, expectantly waiting for somebody to sit on it.
The writer is MP and leader, All India Trinamool Congress Parliamentary Party. Research credit: Ayashman Dey, Chahat Mangtani
