In True Democracy You Never Walk Alone
With the current NDA government celebrating its two years
in power and huge celebration taking place by the ruling government that “Achhe
Din “are here is a subject of debate and depending on what facet of society you
represent everyone has its own version and answers. However, the common
consensus is that more has been promised and spoken about and less has actually
been delivered. The NDA government has
not been able to work with the other parties and despite having won significant
majority in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, BJP led NDA had only 24% seats in the
Rajya Sabha in the upper house. For NDA, this lack of majority in the Rajya Sabha
has translated into delays in implementation of legislations such as GST (Goods
and Services Tax), Land acquisition bill, etc. Recently, the budget session of
Feb-May 2016 saw improved co-ordination between political parties resulting in
clearance of multiple legislations such as real estate bill and bankruptcy bill
among others. After the Lok Shaha election the present composition of the Lok
Sabha is as follows:
Lok Sabha Seats
|
Seat %
|
|
NDA
|
336
|
61.88%
|
Others
|
147
|
27.07%
|
UPA
|
60
|
11.05%
|
TOTAL
|
543
|
The Rajya Sabha (i.e. Council of States, 245 members) has
similar powers in terms of legislation as the Lok Sabha, except in money bills.
The number of seats in Rajya Sabha is defined for each state and Union
Territories (UT) and members are elected by the elected members of respective
state assemblies (&12 members are nominated by President) for a period of 6
years. 1/3rd of the members retire every two years and new members are elected
as and when there is a vacancy/retirement. During 2016, elections will be held
for 58 members (incl. 3 vacancy) and for 10 members in 2017. The NDA tally is
expected to rise by 5 seats to 69 seats within next 1 year (based on the
analysis of current state assembly strength), they will still remain a minority
with 28% share even as the share of the key opposition party UPA is expected to
weaken to 68 seats (1 below NDA).
The present composition of the Rajya Sabha is as follows:
Group & Party
|
No. of Members
|
Member %
|
NDA
|
||
Bharatiya Janta Party
|
49
|
|
Telegu Desam Party
|
6
|
|
Shiromani Akali Dal
|
3
|
|
Shiv Sena
|
3
|
|
Naga Peoples Front
|
1
|
|
Republican Party of India (A)
|
1
|
|
Bodoland People's Front
|
1
|
|
TOTAL NDA
|
64
|
26.12%
|
UPA
|
||
Indian National Congress
|
64
|
|
Nationalist Congress Party
|
6
|
|
Jharkhand Mukti Morcha
|
1
|
|
Kerala Congress (M)
|
1
|
|
Rashtriya Janta Dal
|
1
|
|
TOTAL UPA
|
73
|
29.80%
|
Samajwadi Party
|
15
|
|
Janta Dal (United)
|
13
|
|
All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazagham
|
12
|
|
All India Trinamool Congress
|
12
|
|
Bahunjan Samaj Party
|
10
|
|
Nominated
|
9
|
|
Communist Party of India (Marxist)
|
8
|
|
Biju Janta Dal
|
7
|
|
Independent & Others
|
6
|
|
Dravida Munnetra Kazagham
|
4
|
|
J&K Peoples Democratic Party
|
2
|
|
Communist Party of India
|
1
|
|
Indian National Lok Dal
|
1
|
|
Indian Union Muslim League
|
1
|
|
Janta Dal (Secular)
|
1
|
|
Sikkim Democratic Front
|
1
|
|
Telangana Rashtra Samithi
|
1
|
|
TOTAL OTHERS
|
104
|
42.45%
|
NDA+UPA+ Others *
|
241
|
|
* 3 Seats vacant & 1 empty nominated seat
|
The key states where NDA/UPA will gain/ loose seats in the Rajya Sabha
in the next one year is as follows:
States
|
NDA
|
UPA
|
Others
|
Rajasthan
|
3
|
-1
|
-1
|
Maharashtra
|
2
|
-2
|
|
Arunachal Pradesh
|
1
|
2
|
1
|
Bihar
|
1
|
2
|
-3
|
Goa
|
1
|
-1
|
|
Gujarat
|
1
|
||
Uttar Pradesh
|
-1
|
1
|
|
Tamil Nadu
|
-1
|
1
|
|
Haryana
|
-1
|
1
|
|
Karnataka
|
-1
|
1
|
1
|
Telangana
|
-1
|
-1
|
2
|
TOTAL
|
5
|
-5
|
3
|
Legislative activity picked-up in last session of Rajya Sabha,
during last two years, Rajya Sabha has seen high variation in its utilization,
with working hours going as low as 11% (monsoon session 2015) to the high of
90% (budget session 2016). Co-operation with regional parties as well as with
UPA (on select bills) has led to a number of bills being passed during the 2016
budget session. However, the passage of GST bill (constitution amendment)
requires broader consensus - approval from 2/3rd of the members of each house
and passage from at least 15 state assemblies. Based on current strength and opposition
from UPA and Left parties on GST; ruling NDA would need votes from almost every
other member for its passage in Rajya Sabha which is not an easy feat to
achieve.
After the landslide victory of the NDA in the Lok Sabha
election in 2014, it has been witnessed that the NDA is trying really hard to
make its presences felt in the various state election but the results have not
been very favorable except in case of the recent Assam state elections, the
number of seats in the Rajya Sabha is state specific and hence each state has a
certain representation in the Rajya Sabha. The Rajya Sabha seats at present
state and party wise is as follows:
Rajya Sabha seats at present State & Party wise
|
NDA
|
UPA
|
Others
|
TOTAL
|
Uttar Pradesh
|
3
|
3
|
25
|
31
|
Maharashtra
|
7
|
11
|
1
|
19
|
Tamil Nadu
|
1
|
17
|
18
|
|
West Bengal
|
1
|
15
|
16
|
|
Bihar
|
4
|
12
|
16
|
|
Andhra Pradesh
|
4
|
6
|
1
|
11
|
Madhya Pradesh
|
8
|
3
|
11
|
|
Karnataka
|
5
|
4
|
2
|
11
|
Gujarat
|
8
|
2
|
10
|
|
Nominated
|
2
|
9
|
11
|
|
Odisha
|
1
|
9
|
10
|
|
Kerala
|
5
|
4
|
9
|
|
Rajasthan
|
5
|
3
|
1
|
9
|
Assam
|
1
|
6
|
7
|
|
Punjab
|
4
|
3
|
7
|
|
Telangana
|
3
|
4
|
7
|
|
Jharkhand
|
1
|
4
|
1
|
6
|
Chattisgarh
|
3
|
2
|
5
|
|
Haryana
|
2
|
2
|
1
|
5
|
Jammu & Kashmir
|
1
|
1
|
2
|
4
|
Himachal Pradesh
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
|
National Capital Territory Delhi
|
3
|
3
|
||
Uttarakhand
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
|
Puducherry
|
1
|
1
|
||
Arunachal Pradesh
|
1
|
1
|
||
Goa
|
1
|
1
|
||
Manipur
|
1
|
1
|
||
Meghalaya
|
1
|
1
|
||
Mizoram
|
1
|
1
|
||
Nagaland
|
1
|
1
|
||
Sikkim
|
1
|
1
|
||
Tripura
|
1
|
1
|
||
TOTAL
|
64
|
74
|
103
|
241
|
At present there are 3 seats vacant and 1 empty
nomination seat there by taking the total tally to 245 members in the Rajya
Sabha.
Hence the NDA would like to capture a majority in as many
as states as possible so that in turn their tally of members in Rajya Sabha
increase which would enable them to pass the key bills.
NDA would need support of regional parties to pass key
legislations and may be in case of the opposition from UPA and Left.
NDA needs at least 59 votes to pass bills in the Raja
Sabha
UPA+ Left
|
82
|
NDA
|
64
|
Half Way
|
123
|
Additional
Votes required
|
59
|
For constitutional amendment bills such as GST, support
of 99 members (out of 104) is needed at present.
UPA+ Left
|
82
|
NDA
|
64
|
2/3 votes required
|
163
|
Additional
Votes required for 2/3 strength
|
99
|
BJP led NDA won 62% of total seats in Lok
Sabha (Lower house of parliament) during May 2014 General elections, with BJP
on its own obtaining 281 seats (51%). Despite its significant majority in Lok Sabha,
a weaker presence of NDA in Upper House (RS, 24% of seats at May-14) has
impacted passage of legislation such as GST bill, which need 2/3rd approval
from both the houses of Parliament. In addition, Government has faced
opposition in passing land acquisition bill due to lack of majority in Rajya
Sabha.
Rajya Sabha members are elected by the method
of proportional representation and members keep retiring after their 6-year
tenure and elections take place as and when there is a vacancy. Rajya Sabha
meets in continuous sessions, and unlike the Lok Sabha is not subject to
dissolution.
Rajya Sabha (Council of States) has similar powers in
terms of legislation as Lok Sabha except in case of money bills. In the case of
conflicting legislation, a joint sitting of the two houses can be held. Joint
sittings of the Houses of Parliament are however rare, and have been called in
only three times in independent India, last in 2002. However, unlike Lok Sabha,
a member of the Rajya Sabha cannot bring to the house, a motion of no
confidence against the government.
Over the last two years, NDA has seen marginal increase
in Rajya Sabha members to 64 (May-16), up from 59 in May-14, but still trails
behind key opposition party Congress led UPA (73 seats).
Rajya Sabha has seen wide variation in performance and
loss of up to 89% of time in the 2015 Monsoon session. However, the last two sessions
have seen much lower disruptions and passage of a number of bills – across
departments. The passage has been enabled by the help of regional parties and
also principal opposition group UPA in some of the cases.
Hence in order for the NDA to carry out the desired
reforms it is extremely important for them to reach out to the other parties to
get the support in the Rajya Sabha to pass the key bills hence floor management
and ability of the NDA government would be tested in the next two years to a large
extent.
As in a true democracy like India, in spite of having a
super majority in the lower house of parliament it is extremely important to
have a collaborative effort and ability to reach out else passage of key bills
would be rather difficult resulting in overall lack of progress for the economy
and the country on the whole. As in a true democracy you never walk alone.
_ Farzan Ghadially
