Parties should check ‘unruly behaviour’ of members: VP

NEW DELHI: Political parties should control the “unruly behaviour” of their members in Parliament, Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu said on Wednesday. He also advised the media not to just report the “disorderly scenes” in Parliament but to also focus on covering the good views expressed by members.

“Political parties should take care of their members and control their unruly behaviour,” Naidu said during an interaction with a select group of journalists.

There is a need to maintain decorum and discipline as the entire country looks up to the Rajya Sabha as the House of Elders, the vice president said, urging public representatives to be role models.

He also said there should be healthy ties between the ruling and opposition parties. This at times is seen to be lacking, Naidu said.

On parliamentary debates, Naidu observed that some MPs make excellent remarks but the media does not report them and focuses only on the disorderly scenes.

“Voice is not reported, noise is reported. This is my grievance. Views expressed by some members should be well reported. This is one area, the media should introspect,” he said and added that the media should report in a truthful manner without attributing motives. Naidu also said the work to merge Rajya Sabha TV and Lok Sabha TV is in progress and that a committee has been set up to study the models followed in other countries.

The vice president also said that a discussion on construction of a new Parliament building is underway and suggestions from MPs have been invited.

On reforms in the judiciary, the vice president stressed on the need to set up more benches of the Supreme Court to reduce pendency of cases and expenditure on litigants.

He also called for setting up of separate benches or tribunals for quick disposal of political cases, criminal cases against politicians as well as cases related to political defections.