New RS Chair likely to allot smaller parties more time

WIth Vice chairman CP sir sarvepalli radhakrishnan go down to preside o'er the Rajya Sabha for the number one time in the upcoming winter session, the Upper House is likely to see a fresh emphasis on fruitful debates, better performance and a sharper focus on people’s welfare.Rajya Sabha officials said that the new Chairman will also consider a proposal to allot five minutes to smaller parties and independent MPs for their speeches, from the current limit of two minutes.According to senior officials, Radhakrishnan has met a number of lawmakers over the past few months and discussed issues such as improved productivity of the House, focused and fruitful debates, more time for smaller parties and emphasis on public welfare instead of squabble over partisan politics.Functionaries aware of the details said that during his meetings with MPs and political leaders, Radhakrishnan has emphasised that debates must be “productive” and the lawmakers should not deviate from the subject –– a regular occurrence during the tenure of previous Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar.An Opposition leader pointed out that the INDIA bloc MPs pack various issues in a debate because the government has not allowed any Opposition-sponsored debate in the House for the past few years. “We wanted to debate issues such as the special intensive revision (SIR), the alleged scams of the Adani group, the economic situation, India-China relations, price rise and unemployment. But, not a single issue was discussed in Parliament.”A functionary maintained that the Vice President has conveyed to the lawmakers that politics should not be the sole objective in Parliamentary debates and the focus should remain on public welfare and people’s issues.In the monsoon session, the Rajya Sabha clocked just 34% productivity, according to PRS Legislative Research. The Lok Sabha could utilise just 29% of its allotted time.A second official aware of the details said that Radhakrishnan has received a number of requests from smaller parties for more time to speak. In the current system, the independent MPs or parties with one MP get just two minutes to deliver speeches.“It takes more than 30 seconds to stand up, prepare notes and start the speech. The Chairman is considering a proposal to allot five minutes to smaller parties and independent lawmakers in the House,” said a third functionary.The approach of the new Chairman assumes importance as the relationship between the Opposition and the Chairman hit a new low during Jagdeep Dhankhar’s tenure. In December 2024, the Opposition moved a notice of no-confidence against Dhankhar. It was the first ever no-confidence notice against a sitting V-P in Independent India. Dhankhar, however, rejected the notice on technical grounds.On June 21, Dhankhar, 74, resigned, citing health grounds, in an unprecedented and unexpected move that came after he presided over the first day of the monsoon session in the Rajya Sabha.In the Vice President’s election, Radhakrishnan defeated Opposition-sponsored candidate former Supreme Court judge B Sudershan Reddy on September 9 to become India’s 15th Vice President.Parliamentary experts said that any decision to increase time limits is welcome.The new Vice President’s first test will come in the winter session that has been scheduled between December 1 and 19. The Opposition has criticized the government over the short session and alleged that the Centre has limited business and the latter doesn’t want to debate on raging issues.The second functionary added that the VP could well run the House overtime if the discussions are substantive.