“Introspect”: Venkaiah Naidu As Protests Force Parliament Session To End

Rajya Sabha was adjourned indefinitely today, a day ahead of its original schedule, marking the end of the Winter Session of Parliament. The session in the Lok Sabha was brought to an end as well.

Both Rajya Sabha Chairman Venkaiah Naidu and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla decided to conclude the session amid continuous protests by the Opposition.

Soon after laying of the listed papers and reports, Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu adjourned the House indefinitely. The Upper House had witnessed several disruptions during the session following the suspension of 12 opposition party members for their “unruly” conduct in the previous session in August.

“The Rajya Sabha functioned much below its potential,” Chairman Venkaiah Naidu said. “I urge you to introspect and reflect how this session could have been different and better. I don’t want to speak elaborately on the course of the session that would lead me to make a very critical view,” Mr Naidu added during his address to MPs.

The Chairman stressed that rulings, regulations and procedures have to be followed and said precedents, decency and decorum has to be maintained by members in the House.

He also called on members for “realisation of what has happened is wrong” and said that “we should all work towards a constructive and positive atmosphere for the larger interest of the country”.

Rajya Sabha witnessed continuous protests by the Opposition over the suspension of 12 MPs as well as demand to remove the junior Home Minister over the Lakhimpur Kheri violence. The session also saw protests over the hurried manner in which bills were passed, especially the important electoral reforms bill which asks to link the voter ID card to the Aadhaar card.

The Winter Session had 18 sittings and witnessed the passage of key legislations such as the Farm Laws Repeal Bill and the Election Laws (Amendment) Bill.

In Lok Sabha, the session lost 18 hours and 48 minutes to disruption by opposition members on a range of issues such as price rise and Lakhimpur Kheri violence.

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla however, also highlighted that the lower house witnessed record productivity of 204 per cent on December 2.

Lok Sabha saw the passage of nine bills which included the Farm Laws Repeal Bill, the Election Laws (Amendment) Bill and legislations to fix the tenure of directors of the Enforcement Directorate and CBI at five years and supplementary demands for grants.

The government had introduced 12 bills during the session, including the Prohibition of Child Marriage (Amendment) Bill that seeks to increase the marriageable age for girls from 18 years to 21 years.

The Lok Sabha had 18 sittings during the Session which lasted for 83 hours and 12 minutes Debates on COVID-19 and climate change were held during the session lasting 12 hours 26 minutes and six hours and 26 minutes respectively. While 99 members participated in the debate on the pandemic, the discussion on climate change, which remained inconclusive, saw the participation of 61 members.

“The overall productivity of the Lok Sabha was 82 per cent,” Mr Birla said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Congress President Sonia Gandhi were among those present in the House on the last day of the Winter Session.

The Winter Session of Parliament had begun on November 29 and was scheduled to conclude on December 23.