Don’t Cross ‘Lakshman Rekha’: Says Vice President CP Radhakrishnan In First Rajya Sabha Meeting With Floor Leaders

During his first interaction with floor leaders at the Parliament complex, CP Radhakrishnan, the newly elected Vice President and Rajya Sabha Chairman, on Tuesday noted the importance of decorum in the House, asking politicians, “We have a right to speak, but should not cross the Lakshman Rekha.”

Reflecting on party leaders, Radhakrishnan maintained that although divisions arise among parties in a democracy, decorum to respect parliamentary rules is equally necessary. “Without division, there is no democracy,” he added, justifying the opposition’s right to speak against an issue while pushing for the fulfilment of orderly debate.

The 67-year-old senior BJP leader from Tamil Nadu, a lifelong Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) functionary, was elected the 15th Vice President of India on September 9 with 452 of 767 votes. His first interaction with the Rajya Sabha floor leaders is the earliest hints of a collaborative approach to enable the House to function properly for the upcoming winter session following the Bihar election.

Opposition expressed worries

During the course of the meeting, Opposition parties such as the Congress, Trinamool Congress (TMC), and CPI expressed worries over the present behaviour during Question Hour, seeking ministers to offer clear-cut answers rather than lengthy political speeches. They also asked for smaller parties to be allocated more time in debates and for requests to verify documents to be halted.

TMC leader Sagarika Ghose suggested weekly short-term debates without voting and fortnightly Calling Attention Motions to the Opposition. She also pointed out that adjournment motions under Rule 267 were not being taken up in recent years and asked that at least one adjournment motion be permitted each year.

Radhakrishnan, who defeated Opposition INDIA bloc nominee and ex-Supreme Court judge B Sudershan Reddy, joked in a lighter vein that he deemed his opening statements as his first speech and hoped that no one would disrupt him. His win came after the surprise resignation of Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar in July on health grounds.

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