Big-ticket bills, pitched battles: A Parliament session of extremes concludes

The monsoon session of Parliament ended with prolonged disruptions, only two full-fledged debates, and privilege motions against five opposition lawmakers.

New Delhi: The tumultuous monsoon session of Parliament that ended Friday suffered prolonged disruptions,witnessed only two full-fledged debates in the Lok Sabha, and saw privilege motions against five Opposition lawmakers, three of whom were also suspended.

Monsoon session was adjourned sine die (PTI)

The situation in the border state of Manipur, which has seen ethnic violence for the past three months, remained the predominant issue during the session, and resulted in a no-confidence motion, which was easily defeated.

The Lok Sabha worked for just 44.15 hours and the Rajya Sabha utilized 50 hours and 21 minutes of a possible 102 hours in each House, spread across 17 days. The Delhi Services Bill remained the only piece of legislation that was passed after a proper discussion in both Houses. The debate on the no-confidence motion was joined by 60 lawmakers in the Lok Sabha.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was reinstated in the Lok Sabha on August 7, after 137 days, following the Supreme Court’s stay on his conviction in a criminal defamation case. But five Opposition lawmakers including Congress’ floor leader in the Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, faced privilege charges and three of them—AAP’s Sanjay Singh and Raghav Chadha and Chowdhury—were suspended. Trinamool Rajya Sabha floor leader Derek O’Brien and Congress chief whip in the Upper House Jairam Ramesh are the other two who will face a privilege motion. O’Brien said: “They are suspending MPs and weaponizing privilege motions to throttle any voice of dissent.”

Parliamentary affairs minister Pralhad Joshi said, “The opposition did not want to participate in the discussion (of bills) for political reasons. They participated only in the Delhi Services Bill. Our government never wanted a bill to be passed without discussion.”

Hitting out at the Opposition, Joshi added, “Congress and other Opposition parties never thought that we would agree for a discussion on Manipur. PM Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah said we should be sensitive about the issue. Today we have seen what all Rahul Gandhi has said. I think Rahul Gandhi lost his mental balance..He has not heard the reply. He did not come to the House...It is very unfortunate that the so-called grand old party is behaving so irresponsibly.”

In his valedictory speech, Rajya Sabha chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar said, “Once again, we yielded to the allure of narrow interests and allowed disorder to be the ‘new normal’ in the proceedings of the House. It appears that my appeals have not resonated well our Members. The frequent unwholesome spectacle of disruptions only indicates that my message has not found the attentive audience it deserves.”

In the Lok Sabha, Speaker Om Birla said, “44.15 minutes of work done during 17 sittings during monsoon session. 20 bills were introduced and 22 bills were passed in the session. All 20 Starred Questions to be answered orally on 9 August 2023. The work productivity of the monsoon session was 45%.”

While 20 bills were introduced in the Lok Sabha, the government brought five bills in the Rajya Sabha including the contentious The Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Bill, 2023 that bypasses an order by a Supreme Court division bench on the appointment of election commissioners.

The session saw 23 pieces of legislation being cleared by both Houses of Parliament, including the high-profile bills such as the Data Protection Bill, which was pending for over five years, the politically sensitive bill offsetting the May, 2023 Supreme Court order on jurisdiction of services in the national Capital, and the Jan Vishwas bill that the government said was key to ease of doing business.

But the Opposition participated in a discussion only on the Delhi bill.

While the government easily defeated the no-confidence motion in the Lok Sabha and managed to pass the Delhi Services Bill, which replaced an ordinance, in both Houses, the leaders of the Opposition’s India alliance claimed they have emerged stronger in the session. To be sure, this session saw the first concerted action by a large chunk of the Opposition.

On the last day of the session, on Friday, members of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance launched a protest against Chowdhury’s suspension. Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge said, “The government wants to suppress democracy and doesn’t want to function as per the Constitution of the country. This is the reason why we are protesting here. . We will continue to fight against them to keep the democracy alive. We will fight them both outside and inside Parliament.”

The winter session, the last full session before the 2024 election, is likely to be held in December.