Winter Session ends a day ahead of schedule without win of any group

Lok Sabha productivity was approximately 82%, Rajya Sabha's 48%

The Winter Session of Parliament ended a day earlier than scheduled with Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu expressing deep disappointment at the low productivity (48 per cent) of the upper house. Lok Sabha was also adjourned for the session, as the Opposition kept up a continuous clamour of protests in both houses. The government said it had completed ‘essential government business’, which was why the two houses were being adjourned ahead of schedule.

"The Rajya Sabha functioned much below its potential," 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". The Rajya Sabha functioning was impeded as 12 MPs stayed suspended for the entire session (with the 13th getting suspended a day before Rajya Sabha was adjourned) for ‘unruly conduct’ and the Opposition made this issue a reason for protests, leading to unprecedented bitterness between the government and the Opposition. The chairman urged members to “realize that 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".

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. Both the Houses of Parliament passed 11 bills; 13 Bills  (12 in Lok Sabha and 1 in Rajya Sabha) were introduced.

Productivity of Lok Sabha was approximately 82 per cent and that of Rajya Sabha approximately 48 per cent.

Interestingly, the government, which brought a Bill to repeal the farm laws via an ordinance weeks before elections in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, refused to acknowledge that some of the premises in the Bills were faulty and anti-farmer, as claimed by farmer activist groups that had been protesting for nearly a year. A press release said the repeal was effected “in view of protests by a group of farmers and in order to take everyone together on the path of inclusive growth and development in the 75th year of India’s independence”.

Such was the uproar in the Upper House on Wednesday that the Appropriation Bill relating to the Supplementary Demands for Grants for the year 2021- 22, which was passed by Lok Sabha and sent to Rajya Sabha, will be deemed to have been passed by both Houses after expiry of 14 days under Article 109(5). The Rajya Sabha cannot veto financial bills, but in this case, went through minimal discussion on the demand for grants with an absent Opposition as it had walked out.

An indication that election season was on was given by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Prahlad Joshi. After the houses were adjourned, he said the Opposition was unable to digest the mandate of 2019 that gave the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) an overwhelming majority. The government wanted to run the House, Joshi said, but the Opposition wasted too many days, creating ruckus without any discussion.

“Rahul Gandhi is a part-time politician, maybe he is going somewhere to celebrate New Year,” he said.

However, Leader of Opposition in the Upper House Mallikarjun Kharge said the Narendra Modi government had deliberately suspended the 12 MPs so that Bills could be passed easily and without questioning the government.

“This Winter Session started with the suspension of 12 MPs. The decision to suspend them in the Winter Session on the incident that happened in the Monsoon Session was absolutely wrong. We wanted to discuss issues of unemployment, inflation and others,” he said.  Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Choudhury also said the Opposition wanted the House to run smoothly but the government refused to talk on Ajay Kumar Mishra Teni’s issue. “As the Union minister's name came up (in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case), we felt the need to talk to the government. We had demanded that the minister be sacked. If the government does not answer the Opposition, they are responsible for the adjournment of Parliament,” he said.

According to data collated by the legislature watchdog body PRS Legislative Research, the Upper House spent almost double the time on ‘other’ activities (5.6 hours) as it did on financial legislation (2.6 hours). In comparison to Lok Sabha, which spent 11.6 hours on questions, the Rajya Sabha devoted only 6.8 hours. Non-legislative work (Special Mentions, etc) saw the Lok Sabha occupied for 37 hours while the Rajya Sabha spent only 8.9 hours on this activity. In the Winter Session of 2019, the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha had spent nearly 56 hours each on Legislative business and 48.6 and 30.8 hours, respectively, on non-legislative business. In 2020, the Winter Session of Parliament was not held because of the Covid-19 pandemic.