It takes two to tango: who will take the initiative, the power or the opposition? | Notice

With a new Lok Sabha where the gap between the ruling coalition and the opposition has narrowed, one could hope for greater collaboration between the parties. The 2024 verdict was clearly a vote in favor of a numerically strong opposition, even though the ruling party was awarded a majority as part of the broader alliance of which it was part.

The selection process for the speaker of the House of Representatives provided the ideal opportunity to put aside past tensions and move forward in a new spirit of collaboration and constructive criticism. However, the developments of recent days seem to indicate that the strong polarization which marked the electoral campaign risks continuing and even intensifying.

It has been repeatedly pointed out that many practices in a parliamentary system are based on conventions. It has been noted in the past that conventions have often been circumvented by all the parties/coalitions that came to power at the center, to serve their immediate political interests.

How governors are appointed, who is appointed to these positions, the role of governors in determining whether a party/alliance has a majority or whether a government continues to enjoy a majority in the House, the finer nuances of Centre-State relations, use of Article 356 in the past, logic behind appointment of Rajya Sabha members are some examples which can be cited in this regard.

One of these conventions focused on the position of the vice president. This time, the confrontation between the ruling alliance and the opposition is linked to this factor. While the NDA wanted the choice of President to be delinked from that of the Vice President, the Congress-led opposition pledged its support to the ruling alliance over the choice of President, if the post of Vice President is given to him. was offered. The inability to reach consensus on this issue led to a formal election for president. The question of the vice president is now postponed until a later date as the president decides to announce this election.

The old Lok Sabha did not have a Deputy Speaker. In the past, the convention of having the post held by the opposition was often followed. There have also been cases where the Deputy Speaker has been from the ruling party or a party supporting it.

Until 1977, all our vice-presidents came from the ruling party. In 1977, when the Janata Party came to power, it started the convention of offering vice-presidentship to the opposition. Godey Murahari of Congress was made vice president. This convention was followed again in 1989, when the vice president was from the main opposition party – the Congress. Shivraj Patil has been appointed as vice-president.

In 1991, when the Congress formed the government, BJP's S. Mallikarjunaiah was chosen as the deputy speaker of parliament. Similarly, in 1996, when the United Front government was formed, a BJP MP, Suraj Bhan, became the deputy speaker of parliament.

In 1998 and 1999, when the NDA formed the government, Congress Prime Minister Sayeed became vice president. In 2004, when the UPA formed the government, Charanjit Singh Atwal of the Akali Dal became vice-president and in 2009, Kariya Munda of the BJP was made vice-president.

After 1977, on three occasions the ruling party/alliance decided to support the candidacy of a “friendly” ally who was not part of the government. In 1980, the Congress which came to power supported the candidature of Lakshmanan of the DMK for the post of deputy speaker and in 1984, it supported the candidate of the AIADMK, Thambi Durai.

In 2014 also, the BJP-led NDA supported AIADMK's Thambi Durai for the post of vice president. Thus, the record of the political affiliation of vice presidents after 1977 is mixed. On seven occasions it was won by the main opposition while on three occasions it was held by a member of a “friendly” opposition. If and when the election of the vice president takes place, it will be interesting to see whether this post will be conceded to the opposition, given to a “friendly” opposition, given to an NDA partner or retained by the BJP.

Finally, we come back to the message of the electorate in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. While often extremely polarised positions are taken to explain the verdict, those defending the ruling alliance often claim that the Congress did not even reach triple digits and lost for the third time in a row. They would go on to claim that the BJP-led NDA had secured a majority.

On the other hand, those who support the opposition claim that the BJP has lost nearly a fifth of its seats and that it has a majority only within the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). Before the elections, both parties claimed that they had secured a majority. In both cases, the results have not lived up to the claims.

This verdict carried an important message from both camps: a stronger opposition in the Lok Sabha, with a party capable of meeting the conditions to be recognized as the official opposition, and a coalition government in which none of the coalition partners has an absolute majority.

Given this reality, it is perhaps important for both the government and the opposition to understand that the electorate has sent a strong message for an alliance to be in power and for a numerically stronger opposition to play its part. It takes two to tango. Who will take the initiative first and put aside the acrimony of the past? Perhaps conventions need to become best practices. Will the alliance in power, because of its numerical strength, reach out first?

(The opinions expressed in this opinion article are those of the author)