Mock Parliament can raise public awareness, says Delhi Professor

New Delhi: Explaining what a 'Mock Parliament' connotes, Delhi-based Professor, Niranjan Kumar, said that it is a progressive act that is a common practice in leading universities. He added that such initiatives could have a wider impact when organised before the general public.

A Mock Parliament was organised by Citizens for Democracy under its ‘Voice of Today's Youth’ initiative at the NDMC Convention Centre, where young participants simulated parliamentary proceedings by taking on the roles of prominent political leaders.

Speaking to IANS, Kumar said the exercise would feature representations of senior political figures from both the ruling party and the Opposition.

“Multiple characters will be presented in the Mock Parliament, including those of the senior-most leaders of our country,” he said, naming Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, among the leaders whose roles would be portrayed.

Kumar said the initiative could also provide a platform to discuss the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and explain its purpose to the public.

“I believe that people should be made aware of SIR's functioning. SIR is important to remove the names of people who have died or moved to some other place. This is an important exercise,” he said.

He said participants should use the platform to highlight issues concerning India's political and economic development, including what he claimed was the role of external forces seeking to weaken the Indian state.

“I want the participants who will be part of this Mock Parliament to tell people how external forces are working to debilitate the Indian state,” Kumar alleged.

Highlighting India's economic progress, he said the country had moved from a position of relative economic weakness to becoming one of the world's leading economies. He also expressed confidence that India would soon become the world's third-largest economy.

Kumar further alleged that certain countries did not want India to advance economically and attributed developments within the country to what he described as the functioning of the “deep state”.

Referring to India's democratic system, Kumar described the country as the world's largest democracy and said its electoral process had attracted international attention. He also criticised the Opposition's stance alleging irregularities in the country's voting system, arguing that it should be viewed in the context of India's democratic achievements.

"The American president cited our voting system, and the Opposition is fighting against that," Kumar added.

The event sought to bring young participants into a simulated parliamentary setting, allowing them to assume the roles of political leaders and engage with issues shaping public debate. Kumar said the exercise could serve as a means of political education, particularly when discussions were taken beyond university campuses and brought before ordinary citizens.

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