Opinion: Let Young MPs Light Up This "Deep, Dark Chamber"

Very happy with the news that Swati Maliwal, the young firebrand chief of the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW), has been nominated by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) as a candidate for election to Rajya Sabha. Maliwal (39), when elected, will be part of a small group of young MPs in Rajya Sabha who are in their 30s and early 40s.

This includes Jebi Mather from the Congress, AAP's Raghav Chadha (35), and three of my colleagues from the Trinamool Congress.

One is Saket Gokhale (36), among India's foremost RTI activists, who has also faced incarceration for his activism. There's Prakash Chik Baraik (43) a popular and rising tribal leader from the Alipurduars who comes from a humble background of tea estate workers. More young blood. Meet Samirul Islam (36) an alumnus of IIT Delhi who spent a short while overseas and then gave it all up to come back to India and work at the grassroots for the welfare of the socially challenged, especially migrant workers.

Then there's the plucky Jebi Mather of the Congress from Kerala who is an advocate, a former Municipal Councillor and, astonishingly, the first woman Rajya Sabha MP from Kerala in the last 42 years.

These young colleagues of mine have entered Rajya Sabha with a great amount of hope and with the determination to excel in their responsibilities as parliamentarians. Whenever I chat with them, I am glad to see their enthusiasm and their faith in parliamentary procedure.

Let these young people do all it takes to light up an institution that is being turned into a deep, dark chamber.

No place for disagreements

In 1987, the Chairman of Rajya Sabha emphasised, "Every member is entitled to express his opinion. Merely because you disagree, you cannot shut him down. Then, there will be no parliament."

Between 2019-2023, MPs faced suspension on multiple occasions, marking a 13-fold increase from the 15th Lok Sabha (2009-2014). Compare that to MPs from the ruling dispensation. Despite allegations of sexual harassment, use of toxic communal slurs on the floor of the House, and enabling a security breach in parliament, no action has been taken against any of them. No BJP MP has faced suspension in the last 10 years.

Quality of Committees

Parliamentary committees play a vital role by taking up crucial policy matters for discussion, inviting participation from stakeholders and domain experts. Consider this. The Home Affairs Committee while analysing the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) Bill, 2006, which had 41 amendments, sat for 11 sittings. The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023, one of the three Bills overhauling the entire criminal justice system, with 356 amendments (almost nine times that of the CrPC Bill) was discussed in just 13 sittings.

Bulldozing Legislation

Former leader of Rajya Sabha, N. Gopalaswami Ayyangar, stressed in the Constituent Assembly that the purpose of a second chamber is to conduct dignified debates, delaying impulsive and hasty legislation. Significant Bills like the 1977 Banking Service Commission Repeal Bill and the 2002 Prevention of Terrorism Bill were passed in Lok Sabha but rejected by Rajya Sabha.

In the last winter session, 47% of Opposition MPs were suspended for demanding a discussion and statement from the Home Minister on the parliament security breach. As a result, the discussion on the Provisional Collection of Taxes Bill saw participation by just six members and was passed in 30 minutes. The Telecommunications Bill saw only eight members taking part in the discussion and was passed in an hour. The three critical Criminal Law Bills were passed in five hours, with the Home Minister himself speaking for an hour. Since 2019, over 100 Bills have been passed in less than two hours.

Stealth and Secrecy

Rule 69 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Council of States (Rajya Sabha) states that a Bill should be circulated to MPs two days before it is taken up for consideration. Though the Chairman has discretionary power, this was a long established practice that had become convention. 

Today, secrecy reigns supreme. Take the case of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Bill, 2019, which stripped J&K of its statehood. The Supplementary List of Business reached the members at 11:18 am, while the Bill was introduced at 11:07 am. It was discussed and passed on the very same day.

Not House of Elders, but Council of States

The Council of States, unlike the House of Lords in the UK, was designed to genuinely deliberate and represent states and their interests. A notable instance of this occurred in 1989 when Rajya Sabha rejected the Nagarpalika Bill passed by the Rajiv Gandhi government. The Opposition in Rajya Sabha perceived it as a threat to the federal structure of the country.

Post 2014, there has been a paradigm shift. The Opposition has been systematically targeted, from muting microphones and blacking out live feed, to outright suspension. The principles of federalism have been trampled upon. Bills aimed at weakening state governments such as the J&K Reorganisation Bill, 2023 and the Government of NCT of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, 2023 were passed in less than half a day.

In March 2016, the Prime Minister had stated in the Rajya Sabha, "This is the Upper House. Whatever happens in this House, its impact is felt on Lok Sabha, Assemblies and Municipal Corporations. So we should think how to create an atmosphere by which democracy can be strengthened."

Research credit: Anagha

(Derek O'Brien, MP, leads the Trinamool Congress in the Rajya Sabha.)

Disclaimer: These are the personal opinions of the author.