Are We Doing This Parliament Thing Right? Dissent on Farm Bills
The question of decorum has been raised a lot of times in the Indian parliament sessions or the sessions at the state assemblies when the members involved in the misconduct are most of the times charged with what they’ve said or done but at times manage to get away with their doings due to their connections with the other higher officials. At first, there are a ton of conversations when the subject of any such episode is fresh in the minds of people, which with time vanishes away from news and the recollections of individuals.
One of the latest events that happened in this regard was when eight MPs including Derek O’Brien, a TMC leader along with seven others got suspended from Rajya Sabha on the grounds of creating chaos over the farm bills on the Sunday’s session. They tore up papers in front of the speaker after the bill was passed, screaming “Kala Kanoon”. While other MPs stood up on the table taking the action to a next level, creating ruckus in the parliament.
Executive M Venkaiah Naidu likewise dismissed a notification for no-confidence motion against deputy administrator Harivansh because the appropriate system was not followed.
Naidu censured the wild conduct and "dangers" to Harivansh during the process of discussions on the farm bills.
After which, Parliamentary Affairs Ministers read out a decision looking for suspension of eight individuals for the rest of the session.
Naidu put the movement to cast a ballot and it was conveyed by voice vote. A voice vote is utilized in Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha and state congregations to decide in favour of specific goals. It is utilized when there is a wide concession to issues and sometimes where the house isn't in order. Because of this decision, the opposition leaders protested against this action of the chairman because of which the parliamentary proceedings were dismissed for about 20 minutes.
An Overview of the Past
This is not the first time when the question of a compromise of the decorum has been raised in a parliamentary session. There have been several instances in the past when the members of these assemblies have ended up creating a ruckus on some issue and have compromised with the value and the respect that the place deserves.
For instance, in 2014 a Congress MP, Lagadapati Rajagopal, was expelled due to the use of pepper spray on the Telangana MPs who were in favour of the Telangana bill. It was the first time that an Indian MP utilized a pepper spray inside the house, however it was certainly not the first occasion when such a ruckus was seen inside the state congregations and the Rajya Sabha
In another incident, an enormous fight broke out in the Uttar Pradesh State Assembly between the BJP MLAs and different gatherings after a heated discussion on a demonstration of positive support against the decision BJP. Chairs were thrown and amplifiers were utilized as rockets, as the MLAs took on a pitched conflict. (The Indian Express)
The height of such incidents reached when in 2012 in an enormous humiliation to the BJP government in Karnataka, two of the ministers including Laxman Savadi, were supposedly caught watching pornography clippings on a cell phone during the parliamentary proceedings. Interestingly, the same leader was made the deputy CM of Karnataka.
Is this Parliamentary Thing Right?
This proves that in spite of all the rage and disturbance that is initially created by these members, they manage to get away with what they’ve done earlier, merely on the grounds of the incident being an old one and they deserve a chance to get better in life. They are the people who are the elected representatives and are up there on that particular position because of the trust and belief of the people who had elected them, and their indulgence in such childish behaviours just lowers the faith of the people who look upon them as ideals. Further, their involvement in such actions should make the authorities question- Whether they really deserve the work they are given? Do their actions justify their positions?
Clearly nothing in this regard is discussed, and these so-called ‘Peacemakers’ are back in line doing what they were earlier involved with. The initial disciplinary actions taken by the authorities seems just like a show to others that yes they are punishing those who deserve these punishments and yet even after so many warnings these cases of disrespectful behaviours and actions, keep coming up in the parliamentary discussions.
Updates: Coming back to the farm bill, amidst all this disturbance around, two of the major bills which would prove to be the greatest change in farming by the legislature, were passed on Sunday by Rajya Sabha with a voice vote in the midst of phenomenal boisterous scenes by fighting restriction individuals who were requesting that the proposed enactment has alluded to a House board for more noteworthy investigation.