Rajya Sabha and Political opportunism

In addition to giving representation to states interests’ in the parliament, the constitution also envisaged Rajya Sabha as the Upper House of Parliament where more informed, civilized and quality debates in comparison to Lok Sabha would take place. However, political opportunism has prevented Rajya Sabha from fulfilling both the functions for which it was conceived.

Instead of giving tickets to candidates who can add to the quality of debates by virtue of their work experience or academic qualifications, political parties have largely resorted to electing only “leaders” from within their fold who were unable or unwilling to contest elections to Lok Sabha. Thus, even leaders who are not capable of engaging in quality debates on complicated legislations and holding the executive to account are being elected.

Another raison d’être of Rajya Sabha – to strengthen the spirit of federalism in a country having a strong centre – is hardly being fulfilled if we look at the domicile of a large number of candidates being elected to the House. Thus, people from outside the state, even those who have no past knowledge of the socio-economic and political scenario of the state, are getting a seat in the Upper House. For instance, our PM Manmohan Singh has been elected to Rajya Sabha for 5 terms from Assam, a state where he can hardly be said to have any past experience. Although this is the most prominent case, there are numerous other instances as well. Due to this, one cannot expect the interests of the states to be given serious consideration in parliament.

Political parties should abandon such petty practices of political opportunism and try to elect deserving candidates from outside the political fold and also as far as possible, from the state concerned. If and when this change comes about in the future, Rajya Sabha could be given credit for fulfilling the sublime functions that it was conceived for.