RS Chairman Radhakrishnan reminds members of 'Lakshman Rekha' in parliamentary discourse

Leaders of political parties in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday said that the meeting with the Chairman CP Radhakrishnan " very productive and very rewarding" and he assured that he will seriously consider all suggestions and will make every effort to ensure that the House proceedings proceed smoothly.

Vice President CP Radhakrishnan, who is Chairman of Rajya Sabha, on Tuesday chaired his maiden meeting with Floor Leaders of all political parties of the Rajya Sabha.

In his opening remarks, the Chairman emphasized the importance of ensuring that the Rajya Sabha functions with the dignity, discipline, and decorum it deserves. He underlined that dialogue, deliberation, debate, and discussion are the basic tenets of parliamentary democracy.

Highlighting the opportunities available to Members to raise issues of public concern, the Chairman referred to Zero Hour, Special Mentions, and Question Hour as vital instruments that allow Members to bring forth matters of urgent public importance.

He reminded Members that the Constitution of India and the Rules Book of the Rajya Sabha serve as the guiding framework--the Laxman Rekha--for parliamentary discourse. The Chairman reaffirmed his commitment to upholding the rights of all Members within this framework, while stressing the shared responsibility of all to maintain the sanctity of the House.

He urged all Members to utilize every day, every hour, every minute, and every second of the House's time to strengthen the democratic process.

Welcoming the 29 floor leaders including Ministers, the Chairman thanked them for their overwhelming response and for their goodwill messages on his assumption of office. He remarked that it was heartening to see leaders from across the political spectrum gathered together at short notice.

BJD MP Sasmit Patra said told that it was a very positive meeting.

"We had numerous meaningful interactions. Personally, I was touched by his humility and leadership. I am sure under his leadership, the Rajya Sabha will go on to become a more unified force. On behalf of BJD, we have expressed our full trust in the running of the House," he said.

Congress leader Pramod Tiwari said the Chairman has started a good tradition by holding a formal introductory meeting today, in which he listened to everyone and sought everyone's views.

"It was decided that the House proceedings should proceed peacefully. The opposition insists that issues of public importance must be discussed. We must be given a chance to express our views. The Chairman has assured that he will seriously consider all suggestions and will make every effort to ensure that the House proceedings proceed smoothly."

CPI-M MP John Brittas said the "meeting with the Chairman was very productive and also very rewarding".

"He was open to suggestions and members representing different political parties put across their views and there was an agreement that the Parliament session should be productive and should make sure that the voice of the people are heard there and all the parliamentary devices should be used to have structured discussions on the floor of Rajya Sabha..."

CPI MP P Sandosh said the meeting was a very good initiative by the Chairman and it was quite fruitful also.

"It lasted for more than two hours, and we all had the opportunity to express our views. I hope a positive outcome will happen. It all depends on the political situation, how the ruling party is reacting to our issues."

Tamil Maanila Congress MP GK Vasan said each and every member who spoke gave constructive suggestions on the functioning of the Rajya Sabha.

"Most of the members felt that it was unfortunate that the last session of the Rajya Sabha was not productive. In fact, it was nearly a washout... All the suggestions given by members were well heard by the Chairman, and he gave confidence to all the members that there would be a new beginning in the next session."

Union Health Minister JP Nadda, who is Leader of the House, initiated the exchange of views, which was followed by interventions from other leaders.

The Leader of the House gave thrust on following the high traditions of parliamentary procedure while running the House and extended all possible support at his command to ensure smooth conduct of proceedings.

The Floor Leaders of Political Parties, while extending their full cooperation in running the House requested the Chairman to give adequate opportunity to the Opposition Parties to raise their voices in the House through various Parliamentary devices such as Zero Hour, Question Hour, Private Members' Business (PMB), Short Duration Discussions (SDD), Calling Attention Notices (CAN).

It was suggested that efforts be made to allocate reasonable time to each party so that smaller parties are not left behind owing to their limited numerical strength. The Chairman gave an assurance that he would look into it.

A release said the meeting was held in a very cordial atmosphere with participation of all floor leaders.

In his concluding observations, the Chairman described the upcoming Winter Session as an opportunity for collective effort and productive deliberation. He assured that all valuable suggestions made by members would be given due consideration.

Union Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, Ram Gopal Yadav (Samajwadi Party), Sagarika Ghosh (TMC), M Thambidurai (AIADMK) and Sanjay Singh (AAP) were among other leaders who attended the meeting.