As you read this, the shortest Winter Session in Indian Parliamentary history will be coming to a close. Here are a few notes from my Parliamentary diary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
All-party meeting<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n It is customary for the Government to host an all-party meeting a day before each Session starts. Floor leaders from 36 political parties attended. Every party, except the BJP , made interventions outlining \u2018key issues we want discussed\u2019. The five ministers present at the meeting welcomed all representatives at 11 AM. At 1:30 PM, they politely thanked everyone present and said goodbye. So what did the government say at the meeting? Famous words \u2013 \u2018We will get back to you\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n New MPs in the House<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n It was good to see Omar Abdullah, the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, sitting in the visitors\u2019 gallery of the Rajya Sabha. He was there to watch the three new MPs from his party being sworn in. Big moment for the J&K National Conference. All the three gentlemen were sharply dressed, two of them in suits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Felicitations to the Chairman<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n On the first day of the Session, the new Rajya Sabha Chairman C.P. Radhakrishnan was welcomed by MPs across all parties. Some used the opportunity of these speeches to gently make a few political points. This columnist too didn\u2019t miss the chance. The new Chairman was urged to fix these dismal numbers: (a) Increase the number of sittings of the House; the First Lok Sabha sat for 45 days. Now just a 15 day Session. (b) Admit more \u2060notices in Rajya Sabha for discussion; 110 notices admitted for discussion between 2009-2016 down to a dismal 36 between 2017-2024. (c) Scrutinise more bills; in the 15th Lok Sabha (2009-14), seven out of ten bills were scrutinized by Parliamentary committees. In the 16th (2014-2019) and 17th Lok Sabha (2019-2024), this number fell to three and two, respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dog Fuss<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n An MP from an Opposition party drove into the precincts of the Parliament building with a dog in her car. What\u2019s the big deal? Some over-the-top television channels played this up as if a national security breach had been created. Sigh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Innovative protests<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The standard operating procedure is for MPs to stage their protests at Makar Dwar, the area outside the main entrance to Parliament. The All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) tweaked this. Protests were held at different locations through the week: from the base of Gandhiji\u2019s statue (now tucked far away from the action of the main building), to the lawns of Vijay Chowk, to the steps leading up to the old Parliament building. However, to protest the Prime Minister referring to Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay as \u2018Bankim-da\u2019, AITC chose an unusual location \u2013 a first. MPs from the party sat silently for ten minutes in the hallowed Central Hall holding posters of the writer of the national song and the writer of the national anthem, Rabindranath Tagore. Powerful imagery being used to drive home a point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cricketers in the House<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Former cricket World Cup winners, and now Lok Sabha MPs, Kirti Azad and Yusuf Pathan, have a good attendance record. But we haven\u2019t spotted Harbhajan Singh, Rajya Sabha MP from AAP, on the pitch in Parliament this Session. Is the off-spinner trying to break Sachin Tendulkar\u2019s record for poor attendance in Parliament?<\/p>\n\n\n\n No Calling Attention Motion<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n This is an important Parliamentary device when a member of the opposition can draw the attention of a minister on a specific subject. This gives the opposition an opportunity to initiate a short debate on an important issue and hold the Government accountable. Once again, not a single Calling Attention Motion was accepted in either House.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lesson from Nadda<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n By convention, when a Minister is speaking and a member of the opposition wants to interject, the Minister pauses, sits down \u2013 \u2018yields\u2019, so that the MP can make a point. It was heartening to see J.P. Nadda, the Leader of the House in the Rajya Sabha, \u2018yield\u2019 twice during his speech to allow an Opposition MP to intervene. Good parliamentary practice. Home Minister Amit Shah might want to take a leaf out of J.P. Nadda\u2019s book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n