oppn parties Both The BJP And The Opposition Must Ensure Smooth Functioning Of Parliament

News Snippets

  • Allahabad HC said that the UP Police is acting as law unto themselves as they detained a person unlawfully even before his arrest
  • Kolkata witnesses traffic snarls on the first day of the Durga Puja festival as revellers start pnadal-hopping
  • Neha Bora was subsequently released and Dipke is to appear before a magistrate today at noon
  • Delhi Police detained Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke, Neha Bora of AISA, student leaders and supporters ahead of a rally in Connaught Place demanding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar's resignation. The protest followed the detention and jailing of two CJP leaders earlier in the week over demonstrations at Jantar Mantar
  • The Reserve Bank of India is considering further monetary tightening to counter capital outflows and increase the cost of betting against the rupee, according to bankers and analysts cited by Reuters. The measures follow recent rate increases and steps to drain liquidity as pressure on the currency and inflation concerns persist
  • India directed oil marketing companies to stop diverting sugar-based feedstocks for ethanol production in the 2026–27 supply year, according to a new tender issued on Friday. The companies have invited bids for 11 billion litres of ethanol made from alternatives including corn and broken rice, amid concerns about domestic sugar supplies and prices
  • Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said India's trade imbalance with China was growing sharply and attributed the problem partly to restrictions on Indian goods and services entering the Chinese market. China subsequently said it was ready to work with India to address mutual economic and trade concerns; India's trade deficit with China reached $69 billion in the first half of FY2026–27, up 27% year-on-year
  • Indian equity benchmarks extended their recovery on Friday, with the Sensex rising 413.66 points to close at 74,729.27 and the Nifty 50 gaining 148.80 points to settle at 23,146.15. Information technology shares, including Tech Mahindra, Infosys and TCS, helped lift the indices
  • India defeated Zimbabwe by four wickets in the opening women's T20 International in Raipur, taking a 1–0 lead in the three-match series. Deepti Sharma and Niki Prasad combined in an 82-run stand after India's top order collapsed, helping the hosts chase down Zimbabwe's total of 114 for five
  • Indian wrestler Komal won bronze in the women's 59 kg category at the Under-23 World Wrestling Championships in Las Vegas, defeating Kazakhstan's Viktoriia Khusainova 7–2. Fellow Indian Amruta Pujari advanced to the women's 72 kg final after recording two pinfall victories
  • Indian shuttler Jagsher Singh Khangurra secured a bronze medal at the BWF World Junior Badminton Championships in Cairo
  • The Supreme Court of India upheld the Bombay High Court's decision quashing the 2020 write-off of ₹8,415 crore in additional tier-1 bonds issued by Yes Bank (Yes Bank). The court ruled that the bank's administrator lacked the authority to extinguish the bonds under the final reconstruction scheme, strengthening bondholders' claims
  • The Supreme Court issued notices to the Election Commission of India, Delhi Police and opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav, in separate petitions concerning electoral-roll revision and protests held in Delhi on October 10–12. The court also directed the preservation of CCTV footage linked to allegations of police excesses
  • The Supreme Court ruled that a person converting from Hinduism to Islam cannot automatically claim backward-class reservation benefits in the new religious community solely on the basis of their previous caste status. The judgment upheld the Madras High Court's decision striking down a 2024 Tamil Nadu government order that permitted such certification for specified communities
  • The Election Commission of India ordered a Special Summary Revision of electoral rolls in 14 states and three Union Territories, using January 1, 2027, as the qualifying date for voter eligibility. The draft rolls are scheduled for publication on November 12, claims and objections will be accepted until December 11, and the final rolls are due on January 4, 2027
Delhi HC refuses to ban CJP's Tiranga rally at Central Park in Connaught Place today /////// Police says will control and regulate it /////// NDMC closes the park for the public on Friday and Saturday
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Both The BJP And The Opposition Must Ensure Smooth Functioning Of Parliament

By Our Editorial Team
First publised on 2022-07-29 06:17:46

About the Author

Sunil Garodia The India Commentary view

Although the presiding officers of both houses of Parliament have the power to eject members who wilfully obstruct the House proceedings, yet the recent decision of presiding officers of both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha in suspending 4 and 23 opposition MPs for various terms was unwarranted. Granted the MPs were wilfully obstructing the proceedings but they could have been suspended just for a day. The 'punishment' meted out to them was disproportionate to their actions. The suspended MPs have alleged that the government is afraid of criticism.

The BJP has to recognize that despite its brute majority in Parliament, democracy functions well and effectively only when discussions are held in Parliament on matters of national importance. But the party has been using its majority to pass important legislations without allowing meaningful debate and has been, in some cases like the farm bills, paying a huge political price for it. If nothing else that should make it realize that carrying the opposition with it is necessary to bring in urgent and necessary reforms.

In the instant case, the opposition MPs in Rajya Sabha were adamant to have a discussion on the price rise - a subject that is of importance to the people - and the government said that it will allow the same only after the finance minister recovered from illness. If the relations between the treasury and opposition benches were cordial, the matter would have ended there. But given its past record in avoiding prickly issues in the houses, the opposition thought that it was one more tactic to avoid discussion and pressed the issue, leading to the disruption and suspension.

As the ruling party, it is upon the BJP to ensure that the house functions smoothly. It has to build relations with the opposition and allow them to raise issues of national importance. It must allow debate on the same. The quality of business done in Parliament is definitely more important than judging productivity only by the number of bills passed. Even the Supreme Court has observed that poorly drafted laws lead to more court cases. The BJP has to be more accommodative for the sake of democracy and good governance. The people deserve a Parliament that passes bills after proper vetting and meaningful debate.