Newly elected Rajya Sabha Dy Chairman Harivansh hopes for constructive, consensus debate in House

NEW DELHI: Newly elected Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh on Thursday said it would be his endeavour to uphold the dignity of the Upper House and expressed hope that differences would be ironed out through constructive debates, consensus and guidance.

The journalist-turned-politician exuded confidence that all members will work together and tread on principles of Gandhi and Jai Prakash Naryan to ensure a smooth run of the House.

The JD(U) member said, “Treading on rules and procedures framed by our Constitution makers, we can lead the country to greatness... there would be differences in debates, there would be different opinions... We can find out a way.

“I got this opportunity to be here... i am frightened, surrounded by so many experienced people but this is my strength too as you all will guide me and I assure you I will run the House in a fair and decent manner,” he said.

He said he was faced with a “Yaksha Prashna” (complex question) ever since he became an MP and delivered a lecture at a university in Ara, the land of great fighter Veer Kunwar Singh after students questioned if India followed the Western model of democracy why can’t parliamentarians show discipline and dignity and whether the ancient Indian system of high- level debates and communication is followed.

Harivansh said students wanted to know “why don’t we follow discipline, decorum, decency and dignity and run Parliament like them (West if we adopted their model)” and also questioned why the rich Indian tradition of high-standard debates were dumped while citing examples of Shankracharya and Vedic sage Ashtavakra who went alone to Janak’s Durbar.

He said he considered this as “Yaksha Prashna” but the answers lie in a Gita shloka that says: “For whatever a great man does that very thing other men also do; whatever standard he sets up, the generality of men follow the same.”

Emphasising that people emulate parliamentarians, he said they should lead by example and also urged them to follow Gandhian principles citing how he had set 10-12 points of conduct for all who followed him.

Harivansh also cited Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Naryan’s refusal to take up the demand of road and basic infrastructure of his village to higher ups by saying, “If I do this for my village; what about 5.5 lakh other such villages?”