Maha legislature report card falls short

The Maharashtra legislature shows executive overreach and inadequate debate, raising concerns about democracy as key bills face delays and scrutiny weakens.

MUMBAI: The BJP-led Mahayuti government is exhibiting a disturbing trend towards executive overreach amid shrinking debate and scrutiny from people’s representatives.

Maha legislature report card falls short

This is one of the key findings from data compiled by agencies that review legislative business across states, such as PRS Legislative Research, Samarthan and Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR); as well as data released by the Maharashtra legislature.

With the winter session beginning in Nagpur on Monday, HT takes stock of the performance of both Houses, based on this data.

Here’s the surprise – although the Maharashtra legislature clocked more time in session than the national average in 2024, it failed to feature among the top five states in terms of sitting days, lagging behind Kerala, Odisha, West Bengal and Karnataka.

Among the key functions of the legislature is to pass laws for effective governance and to pass the state’s budget, which drives large parts of the state’s economy and directly impacts citizens. Here, too, the data for Maharashtra is not encouraging. Key bills, on sensitive issues, were delayed, and there was far too little discussion on the state’s budget – a little over a week.

In terms of executive dominance, experts point out that, in 2024, Maharashtra issued 18 ordinances, the second-highest after Uttar Pradesh. “It’s a trend that’s “abnormal” and indicative of the executive eclipsing the legislature,” said a retired official from the state legislature.

On the same lines, the state passed 31 bills in 2024, the second-highest among all states – most were cleared within days of introduction, raising concerns about inadequate legislative scrutiny.

Medha Kulkarni, trustee with non-profit Sampark, says it is a sorry state of affairs. “There is no discussion in the Houses, and there is no strategy or direction given by what transpires on the floor of the houses.”

Moreover, Kulkarni added, opposition leaders have failed to push the government to discuss issues that relate to the people as they have restricted themselves to their own constituencies. “Opposition leaders are careful not to upset the applecart, worried that the government will not release the funds they are entitled to for the development of their respective constituencies. This is dangerous for a democracy,” said Kulkarni.

While the opposition in Maharashtra has proved particularly ineffective, apprehensions about the dominance of the Mahayuti alliance government stems from its overwhelming numbers. The three-party coalition swept to power in November last year, winning 237 seats in a 288-member assembly. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alone, the party leading the coalition, bagged 132 seats.

Convening for business

In 2024, the Maharashtra assembly convened for 28 days, topping the national average (20 days), but was below high-performing legislatures such as Kerala (38), Odisha (42 days), West Bengal (36) and Karnataka (29).

Notably, the Maharashtra legislature convened for fewer days in 2024 than in 2023 (41 days), which non-profit PRS Legislative Research attributes partly to political churn and administrative focus on elections.

At the bottom were Arunachal Pradesh, Punjab and Uttarakhand with 10 days each; Nagaland with 6, and Sikkim 8.

Rupesh Keer of NGO Samarthan, said, “The number of hours clocked has no meaning as the Vidhan Bhavan’s system is faulty. Attendance is taken manually and there is no mechanism to count the actual time spent by legislators inside the House and their participation in the business. Debates are held even in the absence of the ministers of the department concerned, or sometimes without quorum.”

Legislative Council chairperson Ram Shinde said, “We have taken note of these facts and will take corrective measures.”

Executive dominance

The PRS report points to the state’s increasing reliance on ordinances. While a total 100 ordinances were issued across the country in 2024, Maharashtra ranked second, after Uttar Pradesh (22), having promulgated 18 ordinances in 2024.

“Ordinances are issued under extraordinary circumstances and enjoy the status of a law. They are, however, temporary and must be approved by the legislature within six weeks of the next meeting of the House.

Officials from the state legislature admit that this is the age of “executive dominance over the legislature by bypassing prolonged debate in the Houses”.

Anant Kalse, former principal secretary of the Maharashtra legislature, said the quality of debate and discussion in the Houses has deteriorated. “There used to be discussions and debates on bills for 8 to 20 hours by legislators such as Keshavrao Dhondge, Narsayya Adam and SA Dange, on various contentious issues like the Marathwada University renaming, or other university bills. This would have long-lasting effects on democracy,” he said.

Passage of bills

The passage of Bills and their assent, first from the state’s governor and then the President of India, if the Bill relates to laws in the concurrent list, is a crucial function of any state legislature. News laws need to be introduced from time to time, and existing ones amended, to effective governance and to maintain law and order.

The PRS report points at delays in the assent of Bills enacted by non-BJP states such as Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Himachal Pradesh. Even in Maharashtra, at least four critical Bills, such as the Special Public Security Act, Maharashtra Lokayukta and Upa-Lokayukta Act, Shakti Criminal Laws, experienced delays in receiving assent.

Nationally 60% of bills received assent within one month, while 18% took over 3 months. While Maharashtra did not top the delays charts, several key bills were pending with the governor. Bills delayed were those on politically sensitive issues involving policing, cooperatives and municipal governance.

Budget discussion

The state’s scrutiny of financial matters remains weak, another barometer of legislative performance. Maharashtra discussed the state’s annual budget for only eight days, far less than states like Kerala, Goa, Gujarat and Rajasthan, which spent over 15 days on budget debates, according to a report by PRS and Samarthan.

Keer said, “After Bills, the debate on the budget is a key duty of legislators, especially in Maharashtra, whose budget is over ₹6.75 lakh crore. It has been observed during discussions on the budget that MLAs are ill-informed and do not understand the budget. The state ends up spending about 65% of the outlay by the end of the year, but there is no quality debate on it or fiscal indiscipline in the state.”

A weak opposition

A leader from the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) said a weak opposition has contributed to the worsening showing by the state legislature. “The 15th assembly lacks a leader of the opposition for the want of a minimum number of members in any opposition party. Opposition MLAs constitute less than 20% of the strength of the House, that too with relatively junior MLAs. This imbalance contributes to the dominance of the treasury benches in legislative business,” the leader said.

A shrinking opposition, combined with executive overreach, has further eroded checks and balances. Compounding this are systemic lapses in attendance tracking, poor committee functioning, and a widening disconnect between legislative priorities and pressing public issues such as health, education and women’s safety, according to officials from the government and state legislature.

Overall, the data suggests that Maharashtra, once considered among the better-performing legislatures in the country, is witnessing a troubling erosion of legislative accountability, deliberation and democratic culture, officials say.