A busy political period is upon us. The Budget Session of Parliament begins this week in Delhi, and in West Bengal we are in the thick of pre-election preparations.
Election work is going to keep me from Delhi this time, but I have no regrets. There is nothing like the sound and smell of a grassroots election campaign, especially one where Trinamool Congress workers are so optimistic, enthusiastic and raring to go.
In my four and a half years in the Rajya Sabha, I have come to love, appreciate and learn from parliamentary practice and procedure. This has been an enormously educative experience, teaching me so much about our country, its challenges and the layered mechanism of governance. I have absorbed the wisdom of the old saying that it is the job of Parliament to discuss, debate, deliberate and legislate.
My attendance record has been very good, well above 90 per cent, and I am a diligent "student" in the "university" that is Parliament. The first part of the Budget session will conclude in mid-March. In this period, the Budget will be presented. Then there will be a recess, when the Finance Bill (as the Budget is properly known) will go to the Standing Committee for consideration. In the fourth week of April, Parliament will reconvene for a month.
My participation in the second leg will depend on the election calendar - though I hope to make it to the House towards the end. I will certainly miss the first leg because assembly elections are expected to be announced in the coming 10-15 days. As a result, my only parliamentary engagement has been attending the all-party meeting presided over by the Prime Minister in South Block. This session is obviously an important one for the government, because three other all-party meetings have been convened - by the Chair of the Rajya Sabha, the Speaker of the Lok Sabha and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu.
In the three or four weeks before a session of parliament opens, MPs send in their questions. Hundreds of MPs send in thousands of questions. All of these are answered, a few are slotted for oral replies during Question Hour. The rest see written answers being placed on the table of the House. Each day, there is Question Hour in parliament. Sometimes Question Hour is suspended due to disruption or some urgent issue, and on that day no questions are asked or answered verbally.
Even when Question Hour proceeds as planned, only about six or seven questions can be asked and satisfactorily answered - after impromptu supplementary questions by MPs, as is often the case - in 60 minutes. If your question is listed at number eight or nine on that particular day, you could be unlucky and miss out.
Over the past four and a half years, I have been fortunate to have been able to ask many questions. Most times I have had to make do with written answers. This year, Lady Luck shone on me. My question has been listed as the first question on day one - that is the day after parliament will open with the President's address to the joint sitting of the two Houses.
I won't be there but my question will hopefully be answered. The question is very relevant in the recent context:
"Will the Minister of Home Affairs be pleased to state:
(a) The action that has been taken to resolve the administrative differences between Delhi Police and Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD);
(b) Whether same problems are being faced in case of the Union Territory of Puducherry as it shares the same status as that of the National Capital Territory of Delhi; and
(c) If so, the reasons thereof?"
Since I won't be present, I will forgo my right to pose supplementary questions. Other MPs may or may not decide to ask questions, I cannot say. To my mind other questions that could come up are:
- "What are the steps taken by the Ministry of Home Affairs to resolve the administrative differences in the light of recent Delhi High Court strictures?"
- "Is the government planning to implement the recommendations of landmark Supreme Court judgement in 'Prakash Singh vs Union of India' that talks about de-politicisation of the police?"
The Budget will be the highlight of the coming session, but there are a host of other Bills to be passed and many subjects to be discussed. The results of the state assembly elections will also affect the mood in the second half of the session, as will the gradual arrival of new MPs to the Rajya Sabha.
The question many friends have asked me is whether the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Constitutional Amendment Bill will be passed in the Budget Session. My sense is this is impossible in the period till mid-March. The Rajya Sabha will not be there in full strength. For example many Trinamool Congress MPs (12 in the Rajya Sabha) and AIADMK MPs (also 12) will be missing due to election campaign commitments.
I suspect there will be opportunities for the GST Bill in the second leg of the Session, from the end of April to the end of May. But that is another story for another day.
Meanwhile, there's an election to fight and win!
(Derek O'Brien is leader, Parliamentary party Trinamool Congress (RS), and Chief National spokesperson of the party.)Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of NDTV and NDTV does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.