Rajya Sabha’s winter session, which started embroiled in protests over the suspension of 12 Opposition MPs for their conduct in the last session, ended on Wednesday with the Rajya Sabha chairman M Venkaiah Naidu asking lawmakers to introspect and reflect on their conduct.
Naidu said the House functioned “much below its potential” and called on members of Parliament to work towards a “constructive positive atmosphere” for the larger interest of the country.
Rajya Sabha utilised only 47.9% of its allotted time during the 18 sittings. Out of the total scheduled sitting time of 95 hours 6 minutes, Rajya Sabha transacted only for 45 hours 34 minutes, according to news agency citing official statistics.
Naidu said the lawmakers must realise that “what happened is wrong”
“I urge you all to collectively reflect and introspect if this session would have been different and better. I don’t want to speak elaborately on the course of this session as it would lead me to take a very critical view,” Naidu said as he adjourned the Rajya Sabha sine die on Wednesday, a day ahead of the session’s scheduled end.
This will be the fifth time in a row when a Parliament session was adjourned sine die ahead of schedule. The first one was the 2020 budget session that was wrapped up 13 days ahead of schedule. The winter session of 2020 and this year’s budget as well as monsoon sessions also faced early closure due to Covid-19.
The chairman stressed that rulings, regulations and procedures have to be followed and said precedents, decency and decorum have to be maintained by the leaders.