Bidar : Bidar MP Sagar Khandre has expressed his dissatisfaction that the post of Deputy Speaker has been vacant in the Lok Sabha since 2019, which is a violation of Article 93 of the Constitution. Giving a press statement in this regard, he said that the lower house of Parliament should run constitutionally and on the principles of democracy. But the Central government has adopted an authoritarian attitude.

For Parliament to run democratically, all the representatives of the people should be given equal opportunities without party discrimination. There should be an environment where members can perform their constitutional duties, but he said that some recent trends are threatening the sanctity of this system and mocking the basic principles of democracy. The opposition members are not being given proper opportunity to speak in the House, their rights are being curtailed. This is weakening the nature of the parliamentary debate, he said.

When opposition MPs raise important issues, the microphones are turned off so that their speeches are not heard. There is a dangerous trend of suppressing the voices of opposition members, while giving free rein to ruling party members. He said that this discriminatory trend is fatal to democracy.

Some important ministries are being excluded from the debate on the budget, due to which financial oversight and transparency are being severely curtailed. Rule 193, which is used to discuss urgent and public-interest issues, is not being used properly. He alleged that the government is trying to shirk its responsibility. The autonomy of parliamentary standing committees is also being taken away, and in some cases, instructions for amendment of reports are being given by the Speaker’s office itself. Sagar Khandre described the government’s repressive approach to restricting the opportunity given to MPs to raise urgent matters during Zero Hour.

There is a significant setback for private members’ bills and resolutions, and they are not getting enough time for discussion. He said that the fact that the camera is not focused on the opposition leaders and members when they speak on Parliament TV, but the Speaker and other scenes of the House are shown, is completely unacceptable. Advisory Committee meetings are not being convened regularly and are being ignored. This development is affecting the basic principles of our parliamentary system and needs to be corrected immediately.

Immediate action should be taken to restore fairness, transparency and compliance with the rules of the Constitution. He demanded that every representative of the people should be allowed to raise his voice in the House.