International Day of Parliamentarism

When we hear the word ‘parliament’, the first things that cross our minds are politics, democracy, or power. As a diverse nation with an inherited love for cricket, news, and politics, anything related to parliament strikes up either a minimal talk discussion or a heated debate, which might even cause tumult among your relatives! Politics is important in every individual’s life, whether you’re a middle-class person, a beggar, or even the richest person ever to exist. The parliament is responsible for all but is under none other than individuals such as you and me. Celebrated for the foundation of the Inter-Parliamentary Union in 1889, it focuses on promoting unity through democracy and strives to achieve the 16th SDG.

A bedrock for democracy, the Parliament keeps the country, which is a diverse one such as ours, alive and thriving despite various hurdles. But have you ever wondered what these elected people do in parliament? Who is an ideal parliamentarian, and why is it necessary for us to know about this day? Let’s delve into it. We recently had our 18th Lok Sabha elections. Where a win felt like a loss, a loss felt like a win, and the Election Commission is finally relieved to have zero allegations. This defines “to the people, for the people, and by the people”! Moments like these showcase why the world’s biggest democracy is different from others. However, there are many contemporary issues that we should not ignore while celebrating such wins. Issues like corruption, unemployment, climate change, and gender inequality. We are present in the 20th century, yet the majority of those elected are 3–4 generations before us. How can we expect such older generations to understand contemporary India? 

Similarly, the lack of women in our Parliament is astounding. While certainly there has been slow but steady growth in women MPs and MLAs since the 9th Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, as follows: Rajya Sabha: 1989-1991: 5.5%; 1992-1993: 4.7%; 1993-1994: 5.1%; 1994-1995: 5.4%; 1996-1997: 6.2%

The new Women's Reservation Bill will surely become a catalyst for increasing the percentage, but it'll certainly take some time. Similarly, it would be biased of me to say that there's absolutely no optimism for our country's democracy. Surely the Parliament proceedings can be tedious and lengthy, but hey! Good things take time. Because certainly, this is the same Parliament that we criticize for enacting landmarks such as the abrogation of Article 370, the Rights of Transgender Persons Bill, of 2014, the Right to Information Bill, of 2005, and the LPG reforms of 1991. Similarly, the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023; the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023; the Bharatiya Sakshya Bill, replacing the Indian Penal Code, 1860; the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973; and the Indian Evidence Act, 1872, were passed by both Houses of Parliament during the Winter Session. And surely, for such a huge diversity, the Parliament is the only source where one can elect their representatives to help voice out the opinions of their own community. 

Now the issue here can be the current delimitation process, which will be happening soon. For now, the seats for both the upper house and lower house are allotted according to population. For example, UP has the highest count for seat allocation since it's ranked no. 1 in population with a staggering amount of 40 seats. On the other hand, a state like Himachal Pradesh has only two seats. For many years now, the state has been promoting family planning due to the increasing population, which has been successfully implemented in highly educated states such as Kerala, Tamil Nadu, etc. However, their representation in Parliament is getting less and less, which lies in the common belief of North favoritism in the southern and western parts of India. Hence, it's also necessary for the state to act upon such a process. Certainly, it will be a tedious task, and the continuity may lead to regional imbalance. 

One might ask: Who might be the ideal parliamentarian? There is no simple answer to this question. Rather than asking who can be an ideal parliamentarian, we should focus on how we can help to constitute a better parliament where diversity and democracy can thrive at their best. It won't always be the case that we'd have good politicians. But what we certainly know is that while it's shocking for the politician of Hassan Constituency to still gain votes, we should still appreciate that there will always be tens and hundreds of other parliamentarians who will always be in favor of development, equality, and, most importantly, for India.

- Rajashree Bhide