All is not well with the Indian political system, says Dhankhar

Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Thursday noted that “all is not well with the Indian political system and it is functioning under great strain.” Stating that the primacy of debate, dialogue, deliberation and discussion in legislatures has yielded to disruption and disturbance, Dhankhar remarked that weaponizing politics by stalling functioning of Parliament is pregnant with serious consequences for our polity. Addressing the Members of both Houses of Maharashtra Legislature in Mumbai, Dhankhar expressed deep concerns over the trend to make Chairman or Speaker “convenient punching bag by either side.” Terming this as inappropriate, he said “when we take chair, we have to be equitable, we have to be fair.” Emphasizing that the temple of democracy should never be sacrilege, he said that  respect for the Chair must always be there and for this senior member in the parliament and legislatures have to lead the way.Emphasizing the need for maintaining strict adherence to democratic values and parliamentary traditions in our Legislatures, the Vice-President said that “the kind of conduct that was seen in the recent Parliament Session is truly painful, for it reflects significant moral erosion in our legislative discourse.”

Nothing is more distressing, more distasteful for the people at large than when they come to know that Parliament is not functioning, and that there is disruption, disturbance.

We should conduct ourselves in a manner that we become role models. Nothing is more distressing, more… pic.twitter.com/8dhGtOsn6B

— Vice-President of India (@VPIndia) July 11, 2024

Dhanhkar said that the Members of Parliament and Legislatures are lighthouses and they must exemplify sterling conduct worth emulation. Dialogue amongst parties is missing and the level of discourse is nose diving by the day,he noted.The Vice-President also shared that often members meet me in his chamber and tell that they have a command from their political party to disrupt the house proceeding, and questioned “How can there be a command to disturb the House?