Hamid Ansari allowed bills to be passed amid ruckus when he was RS Chairman but he has a problem when Modi govt does it

Former Vice President Hamid Ansari has made some revelations in his autobiography ‘By many a happy accident’, which the country’s liberals and BJP baiters are considering a big deal. Among the revelations,the one which has caught the public eye is the former VP’s assertion of it being morally wrong for the BJP government to even think of getting bills passed in the Rajya Sabha during times of ruckus, more often referred to as passage of bills by the government ‘in the din’. It was no less than Prime Minister Modi who told Ansari that he was being unhelpful as the chairperson of the Rajya Sabha.

Government sources, meanwhile, told TOI that such moral grandstanding on the part of Ansari was uncalled for. An officer said, “He chose a different yardstick for reasons best known to him…It is a belated discovery of a principle.” The government also pointed out that during the UPA tenure 13 bills were passed in the Rajya Sabha amid a din. It must be remembered that creating a ruckus on the floor of the house right before bills are to be taken up for passage is a tried and tested method of the opposition to stall the proceedings of the house. However, Ansari says in his book, “it was technically, procedurally and morally impossible to pass the bills in din, assuming the majority for the government.”

Yet, it is not particularly unique for bills to be passed in the din, and it is in no way an issue of morals or ethics for the Modi government to want to pass bills during an opposition created ruckus in either house. If bills were not to be passed during the din at all, the government would effectively be unable to legislate on any contentious matter. As a matter of fact, no less than the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill, 2014 was passed by the Rajya Sabha amid a din, while the house was presided over by Hamid Ansari himself.

Other bills which were passed by the UPA regime in the din were Competition (Amendment) Bill, 2007, Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution (Amendment) Bill, 2007, All India Institute of Medical Sciences and the Institute of Medical Education and Research (Amendment) Bill, 2007, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Reservation in the Posts and Services ) Bill, 2008, Information Technology (Amendment Bill) and Street Vendors Bill.

Read More: ‘Before Covid-19, our society became a victim of nationalism,’ Islamist ex-VP Hamid Ansari goes bonkers again

It must be remembered that Hamid Ansari is the same person who had said in 2017 that there was a palpable “feeling of unease”, especially among the Muslims of the country and that the “Idea of India” was being frequently challenged, which made him personally uncomfortable. The man has defended Sharia courts, and also attended events organised by PFI. For him to now indulge in virtue signalling the Modi government is both hypocritical and uncalled for.