The Verdict | Parliament monsoon session: Both government and Opposition failed

By Shrey Upadhyaya

The verdict tonight on Parliament’s Monsoon Session is blunt: it was a complete failure. And the blame lies on all our lawmakers. Not one side, mind you. All 25 days. 19 sittings. Just 12 out of 28 pending Bills passed.

The Lok Sabha functioned at a mere 19%, while the Rajya Sabha was around 39%. That is an extraordinary amount of parliamentary time, resources, and money lost.

Rahul Gandhi and the Opposition cannot claim victory simply by creating disruption. “We didn't let the government have its say” is not a valid reason to let down your voters.

But the government also cannot claim that passing Bills quickly is proof of a successful Parliament. Some Bills were passed with very limited or no discussion. For instance, the MSME Development Amendment Bill took three minutes. Registration of Births and Deaths Amendment Bill took four minutes.

Sure, there was a NEET paper leak discussion. But what after that?

Is the confrontation between two of the tallest leaders from both sides going to decide what a country of 1.4 billion people sees every day?

What about the remaining 541 MPs who have been elected to represent their constituencies?

Whom should we look at to raise our issues? Whom should we vote for if nobody is willing to do the one job that they have inside Parliament?

The answer, unfortunately, lies in what Bob Dylan once sang: “How many ears must one man have before he can hear people cry? How many deaths will it take till he knows that too many people have died? The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind.