I still remember that muggy morning in Delhi fourteen years ago. For the first time ever in my life, I was meeting a person holding a high constitutional office. The then Vice President of India, Mr Hamid Ansari. It was my first day in Parliament. After being sworn in, he called some of us rookies for an informal chat over coffee. The conversation flowed. Noticing that it had been well over 15 minutes, he asked us to come home soon to continue our chat. We went over a few days later. Exciting. A person holding the second-highest constitutional office in India, finding the time to meet MPs who were ‘newbies'.
Hamid Ansari had a long and distinguished career as a diplomat. Chief of Protocol to Government of India, High Commissioner to Australia, Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador to Afghanistan, Iran, and Saudi Arabia. Then the thirteenth Vice President of India. What is lesser-known of this Kolkata-born, is that he was a middle-order wicket-keeper batsman who won a college cap. In fact, as the Ambassador to Iran, he introduced cricket to the staff of the Indian Embassy, and it is said that he popularised the sport in that country.
As the Chairman of Rajya Sabha, Mr Ansari introduced many innovations in the Council of States. When Parliament was in session, he used to host a coffee meeting everyday from 10.30 to 10.55 am. This informal catch-up with floor leaders and chief whips of parties helped the Opposition and the Treasury Benches to try and reach a consensus on the order of play for the day. As Chairman, Mr Ansari had one rule cast in stone: no bill to be passed in the din. This ensured that the government of the day could not bulldoze legislation,
Mr Ansari must get full credit for changing the timings of Question Hour and Zero Hour. For over six decades, Question Hour started at 11 am, followed by Zero Hour at 12 noon. The Chairman noticed that Question Hour would often be disrupted because members wanted to raise crucial issues at the start of the day. In 2014, Mr Ansari reversed the timings and since then, Zero Hour starts at 11 am (members raise issues of ‘urgent public importance'), followed by Question Hour at 12 noon in Rajya Sabha.
His approach to the role as the Chairman is best exemplified by what he said: “the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha is not a player but an umpire in a cricket match… You become a player; you become partisan”. He is now living a happy retired life in Delhi, and has authored many books.
The second Vice President I had the pleasure to interact with in Rajya Sabha was Mr Venkaiah Naidu. A seasoned parliamentarian, he had held the portfolios of Rural Development, Urban Development, Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, Information and Broadcasting, and Parliamentary Affairs as Minister.
History will be kind to Mr Naidu who did not preside over the House on 20 September, 2020- the day the contentious Farm Laws were bamboozled in Parliament. He was born into an agricultural family. Perhaps there lies the answer.
Whether it be his chamber or the floor of the House, Mr Naidu used to talk in the same tone with everyone - government or the Opposition. Admirable. And I must mention, whenever he hosted us in the Vice President's house, the non vegetarian Andhra food was terrific. Equal credit must go to Mrs Naidu for being such a wonderful host. He once jokingly told us that he might be the chief outside, but at home he had a Home Minister!
Mr Naidu loved delivering snappy one-liners. On students going abroad for higher studies, he quipped, “learn, earn, and return”. When asked if he had aspirations to become Rashtrapati, he wittily replied that he was happy being Ushapati (husband of Usha, Mrs Usha Naidu is his wife). Then there was the famous line, “The Left can never be right”. While he had a great sense of humour, he was also very sentimental, often getting visibly misty-eyed when emotive issues were discussed in Parliament.
The fourteenth Vice President of India, Mr Jagdeep Dhankar. The subject of a column. Someday.
(Research credit: Ayashman Dey)
(Derek O'Brien, MP, leads the Trinamool Congress in the Rajya Sabha)
Disclaimer: These are the personal opinions of the author
