The Art Of Muting The Opposition: How The 17th Lok Sabha Set ‘Records’

When the BJP won the 2019 General Elections with a majority, the 17th Lok Sabha became the trial ground for demolishing democratic traditions and rules established in Indian Parliament since independence. Along with unprecedented efforts to suppress Opposition voices, including the denial of the Leader of the Opposition (LOP) role, the position of Deputy Speaker, too, traditionally held by the Opposition, remained vacant. Unhindered by Opposition, BJP passed numerous bills without debate, en masse dismissed members of Parliament – 146 Opposition MPs were dismissed in a single session.

On the other side, the 17th Lok Sabha also had the dubious distinction of holding the lowest number of sittings (278) and the lowest percentage of Bills (16 per cent) referred to the Subject Committee. In contrast, the last UPA government referred 71 per cent of Bills to subject committees over five years (2009-2014). The NDA government preferred to send majority of the bills to JPCs (Joint Parliament Committees) headed by a ruling party member instead of subject committees in which opposition members hold prominent voice.

A Lok Sabha without an Opposition leader and Deputy Speaker

The practice of denying the post of Leader of the Opposition (LOP) began with the 16th Lok Sabha: the reason cited was that no single opposition party secured the requisite 10 per cent of seats. Despite being the largest opposition party with 44 members, Congress's demand for the LOP position was turned down by then-Speaker Sumitra Mahajan. In the 17th Lok Sabha, Congress emerged with 52 seats, just three seats short of the 10 per cent threshold, resulting in the LOP chair remaining vacant again—a unprecedented situation till 2014.

According to experts, the requirement of having 10 per cent of the Sabha seats to make LOP is a false precedent set by the government. "They have set a false precedent by denying the positions of LOP and Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha to the Opposition. In the 18th Lok Sabha, they cannot deny the LOP as Congress has 99 members. Although there is no written rule regarding the Deputy Speaker position, it has been conventionally given to the Opposition. This is conceptualised as a gesture to convey that Parliament represents everyone, beyond party divisions," says Kodikkunnil Suresh, one of the senior-most Congress members in the Lok Sabha.

According to the law, the LOP in either house holds a statutory position with clearly defined salary and privileges under the Salary and Allowances of Leaders of Opposition in Parliament Act of 1977. This Act defines the LOP as 'the leader of the opposition party in the House having the greatest numerical strength' and does not mandate a minimum of 10 per cent of the total strength. The ambiguity regarding the 10 per cent rule stems from the General Directions (Directions 120 and 121) of the Speaker. According to Suresh, the NDA government ignored the 1977 Act and relied on these directions instead.

The 17th Lok Sabha functioned for five years without a Deputy Speaker, violating Article 93 of the Constitution, which mandates that 'the Lok Sabha shall choose a Speaker and Deputy Speaker as soon as may be'. Although there is no specific statute, the convention has been to appoint a member of the Opposition as the Deputy Speaker, a practice that began during Jawaharlal Nehru's time when Sardar Hukum Singh of the Shiromani Akali Dal was selected in 1956. The only exception to this unwritten rule, followed until 2014, was during the Emergency period under the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. The last Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker for the past decade was Thambi Durai of AIADMK, a coalition partner of the NDA, as Deputy Speaker in the 16^th Lok Sabha.

Mass suspension of Opposition MPs: yet another first of the 17^th Lok Sabha

The Opposition's demand for a debate over a security breach on December 13, 2023, led to the mass suspension of 146 MPs from both houses. On that day, two men jumped onto the floor of the lower house and opened gas canisters, and it was later revealed that their visitor passes had been provided by a BJP member. Prime Minister Narendra Modi promised an investigation into the incident, dismissing the Opposition's demand for a debate. Subsequently, these MPs were suspended until the end of the winter session, while a few were suspended indefinitely pending an inquiry. This indefinite suspension of MPs was unprecedented in parliamentary history, as the rules do not empower the Speaker to suspend members beyond the current session.

Crucial Bills including the three criminal laws were passed during this session in the absence of 146 MPs, 20 per cent of the total strength of both the Houses. In the 2023 Winter Session, following the mass suspension of Opposition MPs from both Houses of Parliament, 14 Bills were cleared by one or both Houses within just three days. During this period, the Opposition either did not participate or participated minimally. The Telecommunication Bill and the Bill for the appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner also were passed during this time having no dissent from the opposition.

Deleting questions; Suspending Question Hour

n another tactic to silence the opposition, questions raised by suspended Opposition MPs were deleted.  As reported by a consortium of civil society organizations in February 2024, nearly 290 questions were removed from record during the 2023 Winter Session. The report highlights that there are no rules allowing for the deletion of questions from suspended members. This practice of deleting questions was also observed under the NDA Government in 2015, 2020, and 2021.

During the 2020 Monsoon Session, the Question Hour was suspended due to Covid-19, with the Government later agreeing to provide written answers under pressure from Opposition MPs. Similarly, in a 2023 Special Session, there was no Question Hour and no questions were raised.

‘Ordinance Raj’

The previous two terms of the NDA Government have set a new precedent of passing ordinances in large numbers. The power to make ordinance is supposed to be used only in exceptional circumstances considering the urgency of the matter. During the ten years under the UPA-between 2004 to 2014– the total of 61 ordinances were passed. This record was broken in the next seven years, between 2014 and 2021, the ruling party passed 76 ordinances.

A few of these ordinances were passed three to five times which has been quite unusual under the Parliamentary practices existing in India. The Land Acquisition Amendment Ordinance was promulgated three times (2014-15) and the Enemy Property (Amendment and Validation) Ordinance was promulgated five times (2016) setting yet another record.