Meet on House disruptions steers clear of Lalu

"Collective action was the buzzword as Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar held a meeting with leaders of parties,including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh...

“Collective action was the buzzword as Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar held a meeting with leaders of parties,including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh,on measures needed to check the frequent disruption of House proceedings,topped by a mock session held by some members recently. Both Singh and Leader of the House Pranab Mukherjee later made the same point before floor leaders of parties,saying only a collective resolve could check such disruptions.

No one at the meeting named RJD leader Lalu Prasad Yadav or Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav for the daily obstructions during Question Hour,but the reference was clear. Neither was present at Wednesdays meeting.

Those who frequently disturb the House constitute approximately 4 per cent of the total strength of the House, the Speaker said. Around 96 per cent want the House to function smoothly… Disruption of proceedings in essence is tantamount to violation of the rights of these 96 per cent members.

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The SP has 22 members and the RJD four in a House comprising a maximum of 543 people. Their combined strength comes to roughly 4 per cent.

Pointing out that the 15th Lok Sabha,since the fifth session,had lost 42 hours in disruptions,Kumar warned that the trend was fraught with danger… the danger of rendering Parliament irrelevant. Besides upsetting the schedule of business,frequent forced adjournments create an impression that MPs are not interested in the orderly running of the House.

While the mock session,believed to have been Lalus idea,was the main provocation for Wednesdays meeting,none of those present spoke up against it. It was only DMK group leader T R Baalu who made a reference to it. Even the Speaker chose to keep quiet.

Incidentally,Lalu was not in the House today and Mulayam,who sat in the front row,had a quiet day without making any attempt to speak out of turn.

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Senior BJP leader L K Advani felt there was no point blaming anyone. The party has already made known its disapproval apparent at deputy leader Gopinath Munde joining Lalus mock session.

Leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj said after the meeting: I said that I do not approve of this (mock session) and I have taken it up with my party MPs (who participated in it) in private… This should not have been done… the Lok Sabha has some dignity and decorum.

Swaraj added that while stalling the House was a legitimate means of protest,it needed to be used exceptionally. I told the Speaker that if you look at the records you will find that the principal opposition is most often not at fault in disrupting the House… Our aim is to take on the government through debates, she said.

Janata Dal(U) leader Sharad Yadav said that many leaders felt that issues which actually fell within the domain of Assemblies were being increasingly raised in Parliament. Principal rivals in states were showing an increasing trend to take their battles to Parliament,leading to frequent disruptions,he regretted.

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CPI leader Gurudas Dasgupta suggested a minimum of 100 sittings in a year.