Concerned as talks among parties are missing: Dhankhar

MUMBAI: Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Thursday bemoaned the absence of dialogue among political parties, saying decorum and discipline are the “heart of democracy.” The Vice President was addressing members of the Maharashtra legislature at Vidhan Bhavan.

All is not well with the Indian political system and it is functioning under great strain, said Dhankhar. Weaponization of politics by stalling functioning of Parliament is pregnant with serious consequences for our polity, he said.

Dhankhar also expressed deep concerns over the trend to make House Chairman or Speaker a “convenient punching bag.” Parliament is “North Star of democracy” and legislators as “light houses.” Wit, humour and sarcasm in the legislatures have given way to confrontational and adversarial scenarios, he said.

“Members meet me in my chamber and say they have a command from their political party to disrupt the House,” Dhankhar said. He called upon political parties to reward those members whose performance has been excellent rather than those who are trooping into the well. “The primacy of debate, dialogue, deliberation and discussion in legislatures has yielded to disruption and disturbance,” the V-P said.

Emphasizing the need to maintain strict adherence to democratic values and parliamentary traditions in legislatures, he said the kind of conduct that was seen in the recent Parliament session is “truly painful as it reflects significant moral erosion in our legislative discourse.”

“It is apparent that currently all is not well with functioning of our Parliament and legislatures. These temples of democracy are suffering sacrilege of strategised disruptions and disturbance. Dialogue among parties is missing and the level of discourse is down,” he said.