‘Don’t cross the Laxman Rekha’: Rajya Sabha Chairman Radhakrishnan in first meet with floor leaders

New Delhi: Rajya Sabha Chairman C P Radhakrishnan on Tuesday held his first formal meeting with floor leaders, advising them “not to cross the Laxman Rekha”, even as Opposition leaders urged him to allow discussions on issues raised by them.

Radhakrishnan, who was elected Vice President last month following the resignation of Jagdeep Dhankhar — with whom the Opposition had a running battle — sought cooperation from floor leaders for “productive” Parliament sessions.

Sources described the meeting as “positive” and “cordial”, with the Chairman telling the leaders that every new MP would have the chance to make their maiden speech without trouble, and asking them to give him some time as the upcoming Winter Session would be his “maiden session.”

Underlining that “dialogue, deliberation, debate, and discussion” are the basic tenets of parliamentary democracy, Radhakrishnan said, “Every day, every hour, every minute, every second of the time in the House should be used to strengthen democracy.” He added that the Constitution and the Rules Book serve as the guiding framework — the “Laxman Rekha” — for parliamentary discourse.

While Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge could not attend as he is recuperating after a surgery, Leader of the House J P Nadda, Congress leaders Pramod Tiwari and Jairam Ramesh, Samajwadi Party’s Ramgopal Yadav, Trinamool Congress’ Sagarika Ghose, CPI(M)’s John Brittas, CPI’s P Sandosh Kumar, and AAP’s Sanjay Singh were among those present.

Sources said Opposition leaders raised several issues, including the need to hold discussions on matters raised by them, disallowing of questions on contentious issues, ministers giving “evasive” answers, and earmarking more time for smaller parties, among others.

Brittas referred to the practice in Parliaments of the UK and other countries, where a substantial amount of time is earmarked for business suggested by the Opposition. He suggested that even if specific days are not set aside, issues of importance raised by Opposition members should be allowed for discussion.

Referring to questions being disallowed and ministers giving evasive answers, Brittas said it now appears that filing an RTI query is more effective than raising a question in Parliament. He also raised the issue of not taking up Private Members’ Bills and Resolutions, adding that the Chairman, at his discretion, can allot such business on any day and not just restrict it to Fridays.

Among others, Sandosh Kumar urged Radhakrishnan to give more time for MPs of smaller parties to express their concerns. He also raised the issue of the government coming up with Bills that are not mentioned during the customary all-party meeting ahead of the sessions.

Demands were also raised that the Chair should not insist on authentication of claims made by MPs in the House. Leaders told Radhakrishnan that ministers giving long-winding speeches and making political comments while answering questions should be curbed.

Ghose is learnt to have demanded that short-duration discussions and calling attention motions be allowed every alternate week. She said the Chairman should allow at least one notice a year to suspend business and discuss an issue raised by the Opposition.

Sources added that more Bills should be sent for Parliamentary scrutiny, as only one in five are currently referred to committees. On Sansad TV, Ghose reportedly raised the issue of alleged “censorship” of the Opposition and demanded that the broadcaster be fair in its reportage and not black them out.