House norms junked to deliver govt’s farm laws

The Centre’s use of sledgehammer tactics to ram through the passage of two controversial agriculture-related bills in the Rajya Sabha was unfortunate, to say the least, and there are several questions being raised on whether the government did indeed have the numbers, given that it doesn’t have a clear majority in the Upper House. The conduct of deputy chairman Harivansh, who was in the Chair, in repeatedly rejecting vociferous Opposition demands for a roll call instead of a voice vote therefore gives rise to doubts. A voice vote is fine if there are no doubts about the outcome, such as when these same Bills were passed last week in the Lok Sabha, where the government has a brute majority, but normal parliamentary convention dictates that even if a single member says “nay” as the presiding officer declares “the ayes have it”, the voice vote is halted and a division called, so each MP’s vote can be counted. This is what should be done whenever the numbers are not clear, as on Sunday. It is true this government has managed to pass controversial legislation earlier in the Upper House over the past year or so, despite not having a majority, but two non-Congress Opposition parties which had voted with the treasury benches on those occasions – Telangana Rashtra Samithi and Biju Janata Dal – were opposing these two Bills, as was the Shiromani Akali Dal. Had there been a roll call, it would have been instructive to ascertain from where the government got the numbers.

The reason the Rajya Sabha exists is to examine legislation in detail, to revise or refine bills, which can ideally be done by referring them to a select committee, whose members can move amendments. Unlike what this government may think, it’s not meant to just rubberstamp the Lok Sabha’s decisions. That is what the Opposition first sought on Sunday; but even if the government was in a hurry, it should have allowed a discussion and made modifications based on the members’ inputs before putting it to a vote. It was this unseemly haste to cut the discussion short so that the minister’s reply could be over the same day, instead of deferring it till Monday, that triggered the outrage and led to the ugly scenes in front of the Chair that were visible to all.

It must be said that the behaviour of some Rajya Sabha members, particularly Trinamul Congress’ Derek O’Brien and several others, was unbecoming for those serving in what is called the House of Elders. Not only is entering the Well a breach of the rules, the snatching of House papers, tearing up bills, throwing books at the presiding officer and trying to snatch his microphone are beyond the pale for legislators. It was inevitable stern action would follow, but Rajya Sabha Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu should have, in suspending Mr O’Brien and seven other MPs on Monday, also scrutinised the ways in which the deputy chairman rode roughshod over parliamentary norms to deliver the legislation that the government had sought.