The countdown for the Rajya Sabha Elections 2022 has begun and the political parties have braced up to bolster their strength in the upcoming Upper House polls on March 31. The Leader of Opposition (LoP) Congress has taken the centre stage ever since it has lost all assembly elections 2022 held in 5 states. Not only this, but Congress also lost its stronghold in Punjab as Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party swept the polls and ousted Charanjit Singh Channi-led government. The loss of Congress means a further decrease in its strength in the Rajya Sabha. Although Congress still is the LoP in the Rajya Sabha, the grand old party's strength is on the declining course.
If Congress does not introspect and win the elections in the future, the grand old party might have to walk out of the Rajya Sabha. Keeping aside the political preferences, the ouster of Congress from the Rajya Sabha can be dangerous in the quality of governance. One of the major key reasons for the formation of the Rajya Sabha is to oversee whether the Centre is not interfering in the matters of the states and governance is taking place through cooperative federalism.
At a time when there are echoes that the BJP does not have any strong and unified opposition, the ruling party of India is riding the house of success ever since Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister of India.
It is pertinent to mention here that the Parliament is expected to be a house of debate and discussions so that the quality of governance cannot be affected. From past more than a year, it has been observed that discussions and debates are decreasing. Although the sole cause of the decrease in debates is not only the increment in the strength of the Saffron Party but also the COVID pandemic which restricted the Indian Parliament's day-to-day work.
CJI NV Ramana expresses concern over the lack of discussions & debates in Parliament
Notably, the Chief Justice of India NV Ramana had highlighted the same in 2021. CJI NV Ramana in 2021 had expressed his concerns over the lack of discussions and debates in the Parliament. Outlining the lack of debates, CJI Ramana while speaking at the Independence Day ceremony organised by the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), had recounted the well-constructed debates that used to take place during the initial years after the independence.
“Different laws used to be debated and deliberated upon. So, the burden of the courts in interpreting or implementing the laws used to be less. We had a clear picture (of) what the legislature wanted to tell...why they were making such a legislation. Now (there is a) sorry state of affairs...” remarked justice Ramana.
"(Now) we see legislation with a lot of gaps, a lot of ambiguities in making laws. There is no clarity in laws. We don’t know for what purpose the law is made...which is creating lots of litigation, inconvenience, loss to the government and inconvenience to the public," he had added.
Notably, in the first term of this government (NDA), only 27% of the bills introduced were sent to committees; till August 2021 in the second term, only 12% of the bills were sent to committees. Under UPA-I, 60% of the bills while 71% under UPA-II were sent to committees.
Congress strength in Rajya Sabha
As per Rajya Sabha's official website, BJP has 97 members in the Upper House. On the second number, there is Congress which has 33 members while All India Trinamool Congress (AITC ) has 13 members. It is pertinent to mention here that the dynamics of Rajya Sabha are soon likely to be changed elections 2022 results have been declared and CM's of respective states will be taking their oath soon.