Rajya Sabha a saucer to cool LS hot tea: Jairam Ramesh
Aditi Tandon
New Delhi, July 31
In times of intense debate about the relevance of the Rajya Sabha, newly sworn House members were in for an enriching lowdown on Saturday on the significance of the Council of States.
Congress veteran Jairam Ramesh explained to the MPs how the Constitution makers envisaged the Rajya Sabha as a House that would reduce the heat and passion of the Lok Sabha, bringing calmness to law-making.
“In the sub-committee of the Constituent Assembly tasked with framing the structure of Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha, there were heated discussions on why we need two Houses. The Rajya Sabha was ultimately seen as a necessary saucer that would cool the heat of Lok Sabha law-making,” former minister Ramesh told MPs, including PT Usha and Punjab’s Vikramjit Sahney, Sant Balbir Seechewal, Sanjeev Arora among others, during an orientation.
Ramesh cited an example George Washington gave to Thomas Jefferson when similarly advocating the relevance of the US Senate vis-à-vis the House of Representatives.
“The framers had created the Senate to cool House legislation just as a saucer was used to cool hot tea,” Washington is said to have told Jefferson, who was opposed to the Senate idea.
The 15-member Union Constitution Committee of the Constituent Assembly headed by Jawahar Lal Nehru aggressively debated the issue and backed the importance of the Rajya Sabha.
“There were extreme opinions on the need for Rajya Sabha — one led by Odisha’s Lokenath Mishra that said RS was a waste of time and money and the other led by MA Ayyangar, who said RS was vital for three reasons — it will be a permanent House; will represent India’s diversity and will reduce the passions that would typically mark the law making in LS,” said Ramesh.
On a lighter note he also told MPs, “If any Lok Sabha colleague claims superiority, tell them that the constitutional provision for the Rajya Sabha (Article 80) precedes the one for the Lok Sabha (Article 81).”
Ramesh also dwelt on the legacy of nominated RS MPs, including how the crucial prevention of cruelty to animals law was passed after the legendary dancer Rukmini Devi, a nominated MP, first brought a private members’ Bill on the matter.
There have been 143 nominated MPs since the Rajya Sabha’s inception in 1952, with Ramesh today urging the new members to speak independently of political lines.
Noting that “the Congress has shown the path to political parties to do good and the not so good”, Ramesh said the practice of allowing nominated MPs to become party members needed to stop. Out of 28 nominated Rajya Sabha members ever to join parties, 16 joined the Congress and 12 BJP.
The former minister also termed Rajya Sabha reconstitution following the next delimitation exercise due after 2026 as the “top political challenge.’
“There is population-based representation of states in the Rajya Sabha. The current constitutional provision is that there can be no delimitation till 2026 and that the exercise can only be undertaken after the 2031 Census. Southern states and even Punjab which took early steps at family planning are deeply concerned about their representation in the House after 2026 because their population is declining as against the northern and central states where the population is rising. How to reconcile this difference will be the biggest political challenge in the future,” said Ramesh.
Punjab MPs most inquisitive
Of the seven questions asked in the orientation session, six were asked by AAP MPs Sanjeev Arora and Vikramjit Sahney. PT Usha asked whether the National Anti Doping Bill passed by the Lok Sabha last week will come to the Rajya Sabha for discussion. She noted with concern that India is third in the world in doping.
