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Parliament Session: From other side of the aisle...counting hours lost

Less than 20 per cent of business conducted in both Houses this session

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PM Narendra Modi with Congress chief Sonia Gandhi at Parliament House on Tuesday
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The story of time lost in Parliament has now come full circle. As the tables have turned, it is now the Congress which is facing the blame for disruptions that have led to less than 20 per cent of business being conducted in both houses so far in the ongoing Winter Session of Parliament.

Since the Winter Session of 2013, when the BJP was in the Opposition and the Congress-led UPA in the treasury benches, this session has recorded the maximum number of hours lost.

According to PRS legislative research figures, Lok Sabha has lost 91.80 hours (85 per cent), while in Rajya Sabha the figure stood at 86.33 hours (81 per cent) of available time, resulting in an almost total washout of Parliament so far.

However, the most tumultuous Winter Session since the previous regime was in 2010 when the time lost in Lok Sabha was 130.38 hours, 94 per cent of what was available, while in Rajya Sabha it was 112.22 hours, 98 per cent of the allotted schedule. Both Houses were stalled over the Opposition—then the BJP—demanding a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the 2G spectrum scam.

On the other side of the aisle now, the BJP is facing the Opposition's relentless demand for a discussion on demonetization under a rule that entails voting in the Lok Sabha, while in the Rajya Sabha, it has insisted on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's presence during the debate. The session, which has just three days left, is yet to witness a full working day.

Going by figures and budget, if both Houses sit for 100 days a year, the amount spent on parliamentary proceedings costs the state exchequer Rs 10.01 crore per day.

So far, Parliament sessions during the Modi regime had been highly productive in terms of time, recording more than 100 per cent five times—Budget Sessions of 2014, 2015 and 2016, Winter Session of 2015 and Monsoon Session of 2016.

Midway through its tenure, the BJP-led NDA government is now on the verge of experiencing a wasted session, the blame for which it has pinned on the Opposition, particularly Congress and the Trinamool Congress. According to PRS data, the productive time in Lok Sabha has been just 15 per cent and Rajya Sabha 19 per cent, this session. Amidst the din, government did manage to pass the Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill and the supplementary demands for grants.

The BJP has issued a whip for its members to be present in the last three days of the session which ends on December 16, party sources said. The government had on its agenda for the 22 sittings nearly 20 bills, including three related to GST, rights of persons with disabilities, maternity benefits bill, surrogacy, transgenders and enemy property.

According to PDT Achary, secretary general in the previous two Lok Sabhas, who has been observing disruptions since the late 1990s, "if Prime Ministers, in any government, took the initiative, any problem can be easily resolved."

He said disruptions leading to loss of days and weeks gained ground in late 1990s, when Opposition grew in size and found it to be a powerful weapon against government. He recalled that earlier Opposition parties used to meet the Speaker in the morning and convey that they would raise an issue and disrupt the House.

"They would then go into the House and shout slogans. This became a regular practice," he said.

BJD's Lok Sabha MP Tathagata Satpathy, whose party has been a neutral spectator in the Government-Opposition face-off over the demonetization debate, was of the view that irrespective of the party on the ruling side, all parties behaved similarly.

"What damages democracy is that when political parties come to power, they forget they were in Opposition and could be there again. Parliament is a debating body. Why is BJP with its majority scared of a vote," he said.

Time Lost

Lok Sabha: 91.80 hours (85 per cent)
Rajya Sabha: 86.33 hours (81 per cent)

*Figures are only for the Winter Session of Parliament
* PRS Legislative Research

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