(Illustrations: Saurabh Singh)
THE QUESTION HOUR in Rajya Sabha on the morning of August 1 was proceeding smoothly enough with hardly a hint of anything out of the ordinary when Rajya Sabha Chairperson Jagdeep Dhankhar called on the well-known Bollywood actor and Samajwadi Party MP Jaya Bachchan to ask a supplementary question to Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Bhupender Yadav. The diminutive MP stood up and began by expressing her “regret” at Yadav moving to Lok Sabha as member from Alwar, noting, “it would have been good if he had remained here [Yahan rehte to accha lagta tha].” After she completed her question on Delhi’s waste management, Dhankhar intervened to remark that Yadav was a “silent worker” and would do well irrespective of the House he was in. “He will take care of your sentiment. He will do all he can,” Dhankar said.
Bachchan’s reply was tart. “Please don’t validate him. His work is sufficient validation for us. We have been his colleagues for many years,” she primly noted. This wasn’t the first time that an overture from Dhankhar failed to impress Bachchan who had previously objected vehemently to being referred to as “Jaya Amitabh Bachchan” during a discussion on July 29, demanding she be referred to by her first name and surname. A day after the Question Hour intervention, Dhankhar sought to lighten the mood again, bursting into peals of laughter, when the MP referred to herself as “Jaya Amitabh Bachchan.” On being asked by the MP whether he has had lunch and how he keeps referring to Congress MP Jairam Ramesh, Dhankhar said, “Should I tell you one thing…I did not have lunch earlier and when I did, it was with Jairam ji.” The détente proved brief. A few days later, an exchange between Dhankhar and Bachchan escalated into a furious row that soon engulfed the House and saw Congress leader Sonia Gandhi leading a walkout.
The bone of contention for the most heated moment of the Budget session of Parliament was incredibly trivial. It started with deputy chair Harivansh Singh calling Jaya Bachchan by her full name and when she objected, Jagdeep Dhankhar noted that the name on the election certificate is what the house will go by
The flashpoint happened when Dhankhar again called the MP, saying, “Jaya Amitabh Bachchan ji is the last speaker on this point…Please, ma’am.” This time, Bachchan seemed to have made up her mind. “I am an artist. I understand body language, I understand expressions…But Sir, please excuse me, but your tone…” The MP, who looked anything but apologetic, paused and waved her hand in a disapproving gesture. “We are colleagues. You may be sitting on the chair. And I remember when I went to school…” At this point, Dhankhar intervened, asking the MP to take her seat, even as a rumble began to rise in the House. He signalled to the treasury benches that he could take care of the matter, telling Bachchan, “You have earned a great reputation…But an actor is subject to a director, you have not seen what I have seen…I have gone out of the way and you say ‘my tone’…You may be a celebrity but you have to understand the decorum…Never carry the impression that only you build reputations, so do we,” he said, disallowing the MP from saying more. It was evident that Dhankhar had run out of patience. When Trinamool Congress MP Sushmita Dev interjected to say Bachchan should not be merely referred to as a celebrity, Dhankhar immediately responded by asking, “So, does a senior MP, being a senior MP, be given a licence to run down the reputation of the chair?” He did not stop at that. “My tone? My temper? My language? I have my own script, I don’t go by others,” he said. Rarely has an MP received such a mouthful.
THE BONE OF contention for the most heated moment of the Budget Session of Parliament was incredibly trivial. It started with Deputy Chair Harivansh Singh calling Bachchan by her full name and when she objected, Dhankhar noted that the name on the election certificate is what the House will go by. “You can get the name changed, there is a provision for that,” he said. The showdown between Dhankhar and the Opposition underlined a lack of substantive issues that might have led to a walkout. The first part of the Budget Session began with the I.N.D.I.A. bloc in an aggressive mood as it was widely expected that the Opposition would be more “assertive” in the light of the Bharatiya Janata Party falling short of a majority and a concomitant rise in the numbers of its opponents. Oddly enough, despite some sharp and acrimonious exchanges between the Congress leader and BJP benches, proceedings were smooth overall and the two Houses witnessed substantial discussions on the Budget and Bills brought forward by the government.
Kiren Rijiju takes a dig at Rahul Gandhi’s alleged lack of parliamentary knowledge as he did when he intervened during the Congress leader’s speech on the budget. Responding to Rahul’s emphatic ‘I am not yielding’ comments, Rijiju pointed out that he was speaking with the permission of the Speaker
If the latest set of allegations levelled by American shortseller Hindenberg had surfaced earlier, they might have provided more fodder for Opposition action. As things happened, it was often the chair versus the Opposition in the two Houses as Dhankhar and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla sought to counter some aggressive attempts to set the agenda. Trinamool MP Mahua Moitra noted in an X post that the days of “Naaw…Baithiye” are over, a fairly clear reference to the chair. But for all such declarations, the presiding officers retained the upper hand, aided by the fact that they can disallow members from speaking, which means what is said does not form part of the record. In the large cavernous chambers of the new Parliament, getting heard without a microphone is much more challenging than in the older building, now named Samvidhan Sadan.
Birla’s responses to provocations from the Opposition benches show that he has gained in confidence after his first stint as Speaker and is more surefooted in handling the House. He is quick to quote relevant parts of the rule book, pointing out that it was the chair’s discretion rather than a provision that has often permitted interventions from the Opposition. He has been particularly firm in dealing with Rahul Gandhi’s bid to use pictures and photographs in the House in a bid to gain talking points. The leader’s favourite tactic is to hold up a poster and wait for the cameras to move away, and then say that the pictures are being blacked out. Birla has been firm in disallowing placards and posters that became a regular feature when MPs, largely from Congress, staged protests for and against the formation of Telangana towards the end of the UPA-I government’s tenure. Large placards with long wooden handles became a convenient way to obscure TV cameras and block out ministers and the chair itself. “I will not allow posters and placards,” Birla said, putting an end to a particularly pernicious practice that is more suited for street protests than Parliament.
Dhankhar’s other ongoing duel is with leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, who often uses a belligerent and combative approach to the chair, perhaps in keeping with the wishes of the Congress high command
Dhankhar’s other ongoing duel is with Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, who often uses a belligerent and combative approach to the chair, perhaps in keeping with the wishes of the Congress high command. Neither stands down, but the chairman does not hesitate in refusing Kharge’s bid to take up the disqualification of Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat at the Paris Olympics during a discussion on the Appropriation Bill. Dhankhar is well-versed in the rules of the House and his legal background makes him familiar with constitutional issues and matters of law, which he uses to take on the Opposition. Again, as in the Bachchan incident, the Opposition walked out and Dhankhar took recourse to his vocabulary to describe its conduct as “indecorous and undignified.” On another occasion, the chair’s sarcastic observation that Jairam Ramesh, who is Congress communications in-charge, could replace Kharge, saw another war of words with the senior leader alleging that Dhankhar was raking up the “varna (caste)” system. The chairperson had to hastily clarify that his words were being twisted. Dhankhar then has a running battle with Kharge, one that does not appear to be ending soon. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju had little room to manoeuvre between the aisles with both sides at daggers drawn. In the heat of the battle, Rijiju also takes a dig or two at Rahul’s alleged lack of parliamentary knowledge as he did when he intervened during the Congress leader’s speech on the Budget. Responding to Rahul’s emphatic “I am not yielding” comments, the minister pointed out that he was speaking with the permission of the speaker.
The petty nature of the disagreements does not, however, mask the fact that the Lok Sabha recorded 136 per cent productivity during the Budget as the House sat well past regular hours on several occasions, more than making up for disruptions. The clash of ideas was often sheathed in harshly worded references and the fights were no holds barred. But the arguments were set out in debates, however antagonistic, and that is a big improvement over crowding the Well and raising slogans.
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