Unprecedented number of debutants brought vigour and colour to proceedings; 61 women parliamentarians a signal that India is ready for change
The Parliament’s 16th Lok Sabha came to an end on Wednesday. On the last day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made his closing address to the House. He recalled how, as a first-time MP, he wasn’t too well-versed in the “geography” of the hallowed corridors of the building, the one that serves as the nerve centre of democracy, which has seen generations of members come and go.
“In 2014, I was one of the MPs elected for the first time. Little did I know about the geography of the place, and I had no idea which lane led where. I was new to this and would look at everything with a great deal of curiosity. I looked around my seat and would wonder what function a particular button has, and saw a plate with the names of the first three prime ministers of this country,” PM Modi said.
The 16th Lok Sabha was unique in the sense that for the first time in three decades, the number of first-time MPs outnumbered those who had walked into the floor of the House earlier. Of the 543 MPs, 314 were first-timers, accounting for 58 per cent of the strength of the House.
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One of the first-time parliamentarians was PK Sreemathi, CPI(M) MP from Kannur. Sreemathi says she wasn’t overwhelmed when she entered Parliament for the first time. She reminisces about the time she accompanied the legendary Capt. Laxmi Sehgal to the building during the presidential vote on July 18, 2002. Capt. Sehgal, a nominee of the Left parties, had lost to Congress nominee APJ Abdul Kalam.
Despite the large number of first-timers, this Lok Sabha saw only four MPs who could boast of a 100 per cent attendance: Ramesh Chander Kaushik, Gopal Chinayya Shetty, Kulamani Samal and Bhairon Prasad Mishra.
There were also eight sessions where all MPs were present in the House. These included the eventful impeachment motion during the last Monsoon Session that went on for a record 11 hours. Such was the enthusiasm on either side of the aisle that two BJP MPs came in with intravenous drips attached, while a third was brought in on a stretcher! Speaker Sumitra Mahajan later instructed the marshals to take the vote from the concerned MP on a piece of paper.
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Other memorable events from this Lok Sabha included paper planes flying, politicians hugging each other on the floor of the House, the opposition relegated to a smaller corner. Sreemathi says she was a bit overwhelmed by the dynasties at play. “Across parties, there are families that yield influence. I don’t know, but this is not how democracy should function,” she said.
Another MP from Assam says, on condition of anonymity, that more than the formidable building and its history, what is particularly overwhelming is the fact that MPs from the Northeast are rarely taken as seriously as their counterparts from other parts.
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“There are 25 of us scattered across seven states, and we don’t have much of a say. Even within our own parties, sometimes we aren’t taken seriously when it comes to contentious issues that may have an effect on the lives of people from our own constituencies,” said the MP from a national party.
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