Parliament concludes debate on Constitution 

The Rajya Sabha on Tuesday (December 17, 2024) concluded its two-day debate on Constitution. The Lok Sabha wrapped up its two-day discussion on Saturday (December 14, 2024).

Lok Sabha

The ‘One Nation, One Election’ Bill, seeking to implement simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies, was referred to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) after Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal introduced it in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday (December 17, 2024). The Bill was introduced in the House through division of votes after Opposition members sought withdrawal of it.

While 269 members voted for it, 198 members opposed.

Most Opposition leaders asserted that the Bill went against the basic structure of the Constitution and was “anti-federal”, a charge rejected by the government.

Leading the charge from the Opposition benches, Congress member Manish Tewari said that the tenure of State Legislatures cannot be subject to the tenure of the Lok Sabha. He cited the Bill as a case of excessive centralism. Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi said that ‘ONOE’ Bill would give ‘illegal’ powers to Election Commission to advise the President.

RSP MP N.K. Premachandran and NCP (SP) Supriya Sule also expressed their Opposition to the Bill, calling it an attempt to centralise power at the expense of federalism and the Constitution. Ms. Sule further urged the government to immediately withdraw the bill or refer the bill to a JPC for further consultation.

Home Minister Amit Shah told the Lower House that when the Bill was being approved in the Union Cabinet, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had suggested sending it to a joint parliamentary committee. Mr. Shah pointed out that DMK member T.R. Baalu too had favoured referring the bill to a parliamentary committee.

This was the first time that the electronic voting system was used in the Lok Sabha in the new Parliament House.

The Lok Sabha also passed the Supplementary Demands for Grants on Tuesday (December 17, 2024). In her reply, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the lower-than-expected GDP growth of 5.4% in two quarters in the last three years was “temporary” and the economy should not be judged only on those. She also said that India has seen “sustained, steady growth”.

Quoting data from the Periodic Labour for Survey report, Ms. Sitharaman claimed that unemployment has fallen from 6% in 2017-18 to 3.2% in 2023-24. “This is accompanied by a rise in labour force participation ratio and worker to population ratio as well,” she added.

Ms. Sitharaman also said that women are now contributing more to the labour force. “Female labour force participation rate has been on the rise — from 24.5% in 2018-19 to 41.7% in 2023-24,” she said, adding that this is largely driven by participation of rural women.

The House also started a discussion on the Readjustment of Representation of Scheduled Tribes in Assembly Constituencies of Goa, which will be continued on Wednesday (December 18, 2024).

Rajya Sabha

The Rajya Sabha began its proceedings by paying tribute to Ustad Zakir Hussain before resuming the Constitution debate. Leader of the House in Rajya Sabha J.P. Nadda alleged that the Congress introduced reservations based on religion in States where it was on power. Congress member Jairam Ramesh interjected to clarify that his party never spoke about introducing reservations based on religion but, in States like Karnataka, it has only given reservations for the other backward classes and for socially, economically and educationally backward groups.

Trinamool Congress MP Sushmita Dev said that equality, according to the Constitution, was a right and said that 1% of the population controls 40% of the wealth in the country. She also said that the government has waived off loans for corporate entities, but farmers struggle under the burden of loan. Claiming that the middle class was the worst impacted by taxes, she said that the taxes on corporates keep reducing because of the policies of the government. She also raised the issue of violence in Manipur in the House. “Which constitutional right have you not suspended in Manipur? Liberty, expression, speech — everything has been suspended. I stand here as a Member of Parliament, representing the north-east, demanding the resignation of every MP from the North East and every Minister who is thumping their desk behind the Leader of House,” she said.

Members from both sides of the House spoke about the importance of the Constitution in the nation’s polity. While Opposition members challenged the government about various actions they deemed violative of the Constitution, treasury bench members spoke of the constitutional transgressions of the previous Congress dispensations, specifically those during the Emergency era.

AAP leader Sanjay Singh said that the country will run according to Babasaheb Ambedkar’s Constitution, not according to Amit Shah and Narendra Modi. He alleged that while the Opposition has the INDIA grouping, the other side has an alliance with the Enforcement Directorate. During his speech he also alleged that the BJP does not respect the rights of the Dalit and backward classes, repeating that President Droupadi Murmu was not invited to the consecration ceremony of the Ayodhya temple.

Trinamool Congress MP Derek O’Brien questioned the fact that One Nation, One Election Bills were introduced while a discussion on the Constitution was going on, calling it the “hubris” of the government. We will never allow the Parliament to become an “RSS shakha”, he said.

Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Ramdas Athawale said that the Modi government has ended caste discrimination as envisaged under Article 17, and that it will continue to strengthen the Constitution.

Home Minister Amit Shah replied to the debate at length, expressing the belief that this discussion which happened in both Houses would be very educative for the youth and the next generation. He said that the Constitution was not meant to be immutable, and that the Constituent Assembly provided for the same in the articles of the Constitution. He also compared the amendments under the BJP and Congress regimes, saying that the BJP amended the Constitution 22 times while the Congress amended it 77 times.

The Home Minister also said that had the Kakasaheb Kalelkar Commission on reservation for OBCs been accepted, there would have been no need for the Mandal Commission report. Further, the latter was only adopted after the Congress was out of power, he said, saying that Rajiv Gandhi’s longest speech in Parliament was against the Mandal Commission. He further alleged that Congress sought to increase the existing ceiling on reservation to bring in reservation for Muslims.

The debate has now concluded in the Rajya Sabha.

Both Houses will resume proceedings at 11 a.m on Wednesday (December 18, 2024).

Published - December 17, 2024 11:31 pm IST