By Dhruvi Shah
There was reportedly an intense debate between the majority party, BJP, and the minority opposition parties yesterday, the second day of the District Session, regarding the timing of this Vande Mataram debate. During this District Session, Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Kiren Rijiju, addressed the Rajya Sabha, indicating that while the Government has agreed to a future discussion on electoral reform, he asked that this discussion occur after the completion of the Vande Mataram debate. Rijiju has assured us that this recommendation for an opportunity to discuss future efforts at electoral reform will not impact any other matters that will be presented through the House/Parliament and that timeframes established to accommodate discussions of those additional items will be established at future meetings of the Committee.
He said that both issues are important, but he also thinks that it would not be appropriate to have a debate about electoral reform before we commemorate Vande Mataram, which he believes is part of India’s fight for independence.
Rijiju said that the Government would let everyone know when they can meet to discuss the Reform Bills after he talks to the rest of the Committee, the Chair and others. He urged the Opposition not to be overly fixed on a date for the Reform Bills to be discussed and asked for cooperation to help keep the House functioning well.
While the Government was stressing that the Reform Bills would not be discussed yet, the Opposition was pushing for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls to be done immediately. The Leader of the Opposition, Mallikarjun Kharge, referred to Rule 267 as he made a case for the matter needing to be discussed immediately over other Business. “We’re asking for Rule 267 so that we may discuss the matter,” Kharge said to Rajya Sabha Chairman CP Radhakrishnan.
There were supporters of the discussion being held right away: TMC MP Derek O’Brien, who stated the urgency of the situation, and DMK’s Tiruchi Siva, who said the government hadn’t kept its word and that it should make the SIR discussion its first priority. CPI (M) MP John Brittas felt the request from the Opposition was reasonable and suggested that the debate commence the next afternoon.
The Government’s dogged persistence, even in the face of broad-based agreement from all opposition parties, means that they will be facing an increasing need to justify their approach to the upcoming Elections and Parliamentary agenda. There is therefore increasing tension between both sides regarding their respective views on Electoral Reforms.