Parliamentary procedures have been tossed aside as an increasing number of laws are passed with little or no debate. https://thewire.in/politics/indias-decade-of-democratic-deficit
It took decades of people’s struggles to establish India as a democratic state. The central democratic institution of this state is its parliament. In recent years, parliament’s role has been undermined by a government with a brute majority in the lower house, the Lok Sabha, culminating in a “democratic deficit” in its functioning.
In August 2023, under the guise of protecting the right to privacy, parliament passed the Digital Personal Data Protection Bill by voice vote in both houses of parliament despite a walkout by opposition members over the prolonged violence in Manipur.
Silencing opposition in parliament
The parliament sessions in 2023 resulted in the passage of 19 bills in both the Lok Sabha and the upper house, the Rajya Sabha, by voice vote, pushing parliamentary deliberations to the backseat. The vindictiveness of the regime reached an unprecedented level with the suspension of 141 opposition MPs.
by Avinash Kumar and Puja Rani
28/05/2024