New Delhi: From Jawaharlal Nehru and Vithalbhai Patel, to Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley— the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday echoed with quotes from several former leaders of Indian polity during a heated exchange between Deputy Chairman Harivansh and Congress president and Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge.
While Harivansh quoted former prime minister Nehru in the House and referred to work done by Patel, Kharge hit back with the words of Swaraj and Jaitley—both trying to make their point over the presence of Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel inside Parliament.
Kharge had written to Harivansh last week, objecting to the presence of security personnel in the well of the House, alleging that the personnel were stopping them from raising their grievances.
“We are astonished and shocked at the manner in which CISF personnel are made to run into the well of the House when the members are exercising their democratic rights of protest,” the letter said.
While he spoke about the disruptions, their impact and the “sanctity” of the well of the House, Harivansh ended his speech quoting Nehru, who had said in 1958: “Parliament does set some kind of an example to the rest of the country. As we behave here to each other, towards our work, towards the general public, so to some extent others will behave elsewhere, whether in the state legislatures or in the many other organs of self-government that exist in the country or that are growing up, right way down to that foundation of our democracy the Panchayats in villages…”
“Therefore, on all of us rests this great responsibility, not only to behave as we should behave, but to remember always that a million eyes are upon us and we may not do something that brings the slightest discredit on Parliament or set a wrong line before the people.”
Harivansh read out this quote, amidst sloganeering by the Opposition.
Kharge’s clapback to Harivansh’s speech referred to the time when Arun Jaitley was the LoP in the Upper House and Sushma Swaraj was the LoP in the Lok Sabha. “They said that disruption is also a part of democracy,” Kharge said.
Joining in the spat, Nadda also slammed the Opposition for disrupting the proceedings of the House, saying: “If I am speaking and someone comes beside me shouting slogans, that is not democracy. This is not the proper way to function. I myself have been in the Opposition for over 40 years, and I would say—take tuition from me on how to work as the Opposition. You’re new, it has only been 10 years, take tuition from me, because you’ll be there for the next 30-40 years.”
Nadda added, “Any person who is in the House to maintain discipline and decorum by the order of the chair, is a marshal. He is not a member of any paramilitary forces, he is considered to be a marshal and that is why he is here.”
Who guards the Parliament
During the debate, Harivansh also mentioned that it was co-founder of Swaraj Party Vithalbhai Patel, the then president of the Central Legislative Assembly, who laid the foundation of establishing the security service of the assembly, which was the lower house of British India.
The Watch and Ward Committee was set up in 1929 on Patel’s initiative. The Committee was renamed as Parliamentary Security Services in 2009. It is charged with providing security to the VIPs, VVIPs, building and its incumbents, and for regulating men and vehicles within the Parliament House Complex.
However, following the security breach in the Parliament in December 2023, when two persons jumped into the Lok Sabha chamber from the public gallery and released yellow smoke from canisters, the CISF was made the principal body entrusted with providing security as well as facilitating parliamentarians into the complex, and their movement within.
Since then, the CISF and the PSS have jointly taken care of the security of the House as well as the Parliament Complex during three previous sessions of the Parliament. However, the ongoing session is the first where the CISF is the sole body responsible for facilitation, security and in-house duties, previously done by marshals inside the House.
While Kharge has objected to CISF presence inside the House, Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Kiren Rijiju accused Kharge of “misleading” and portraying wrong facts in the letter.
“It is clear on the record that only marshals can enter the House, and that day, it was the marshals (in the House)…If such a senior leader writes a wrong letter to the Chairman, what should be done about it?” Rijiju asked.
The Deputy Chairman of the House also claimed it was not CISF personnel, but only the marshals inside the House.
‘Sanctity of the well’
When the proceedings of the House began, Deputy Chairman Harivansh brought up the letter that Kharge had written to him last week.
He first expressed disappointment over the letter being released to the media, asserting that the letter between the Chair and the LoP falls in the category of “privileged communication”.
“I leave it to the wisdom of all of you to determine how appropriate it was to release the letter to the media before it came to my attention,” he said.
The Deputy Chairman then referred to the Rules, and called it a “concerning fact” that there were incidents of disruption in the House. He blamed the disruptions for the House losing 41 hours and 11 minutes in total.
He referred to specific incidents of such disruptions as well. He spoke of the “sanctity” of the well of the House, and condemned leaders who raise slogans entering this area, saying, “The entry to the well is regulated. Going there, raising slogans and disrupting the proceedings of the House is absolutely unfair. Violating the sanctity of that area is equal to bringing the dignity of the House.”
Harivansh went on to quote several former chairpersons of the Rajya Sabha, over disruptions to the House with members entering the well of the House.
Inputs by Mayank Kumar
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)
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