Rs calendar looks back in History
A fascinating Rajya Sabha 2019 calendar released by the Upper House Chairman, M. Venkaiah Naidu on Wednesday revealed many interesting facts like that the House of Elders had no Leader of Opposition (LOP) for 34 of the last 66 years. A wide array of 65 leaders including 13 Chairmen, 12 Deputy Chairpersons including three women, 26 Leaders of the House and 14 Lops from different parties since the inception of the Upper House in 1952 have been featured in the calendar.
Naidu told The Sunday Guardian that the calendar was a chronicle of political changes and the history of Rajya Sabha since 1952. It features one Chairman on each page, along with their quotes about the expectations from the members.
The information rich calendar depicts that late Shyam Nandan Mishra (Congress-o) was the first LOP during December 1969-March 1971. The institution of Leader of Opposition was created through an Act in 1977. The late Bhola Pawan Shastry was the first LOP during February-march 1978 under this Act under which the Opposition status is conferred on a party with one tenth of the strength of the House.
The periods when the Rajya Sabha had “no LOP” were: May 1952-November 1969; April 1972-January 1978; March 1978-December 1979; April 1980-December 1989; and February 1991-May 1991.
Manmohan Singh has the distinction of being the LOP and Leader of the House in the Rajya Sabha for the longest duration of over six years and 10 years respectively.
Referring to the persistent turbulence in the Upper House, Naidu said, “I am pained by our inability to ensure convergence of different agendas into a national agenda… Parliamentary institutions can’t be held captive to the competing agendas.” Naidu recalled that the first Chairman, Dr S. Radhakrishnan had urged the members to do everything to justify the creation of the second chamber of Parliament. “I have been trying to impress upon the members only three words—discuss, debate and decide.”
The Leader of the House Arun Jaitley and LOP Ghulam Nabi Azad said that the calendar was educative even for senior members. The Secretary General of the Rajya Sabha, Desh Deepak Verma, felt that “the calendar is a learner’s delight”.