The Rajya Sabha on Wednesday recorded a first disruption-free sitting in almost a year. This feat was recorded after 41 straight sittings spread across four sessions in the Upper House.
The last such normal disruption free sitting was recorded during the budget session on March 19, 2021. That was the 253rd session of the Rajya Sabha. The sitting on December 13, 2021 was also disruption free but it was a private members’ business where disruptions are rare.
So synonymous is the Rajya Sabha now to disruptions and adjournments that the last full session that recorded peaceful proceedings was the 216th session in June 2009. That day, then Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh had introduced his council of ministers to the Upper House after the UPA’s win in the general elections.
However, once the Narendra Modi-led NDA swept the polls in 2014 and 2019, there were uproarious scenes in the House at the time of the introduction of ministers.
The special mentions and the question hour proceeded smoothly on Wednesday. At the start of the day’s proceedings, Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu observed that this session assumes significance as it is being held at the confluence of two historic events, i.e., the mid-point of the 75th year of the country’s Independence and 70 years of elections in the country.
Naidu also stated that in the historic 75th year of Independence, the need of the hour is for the 5,000 MPs, MLAs and MLCs to conduct themselves in a manner befitting the trust the citizens still have in the country’s Parliamentary democracy.
