Law And Behold

A strong mandate and a weak opposition have enabled the Modi government to upend parliamentary norms and pursue an ambitious legislative agenda

- Pratul Sharma

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will have something to boast while delivering his Independence Day speech, the first of his second term. His government has achieved record legislative productivity by passing contentious bills like the one banning triple talaq, and the amendments to the Right to Information Act, Unlawful Activities Prevention Act and the Aadhaar Act, taking advantage of the disunity among opposition parties. The government managed to clear 16 bills in 32 days. Nearly two dozen more bills could be passed during the ongoing session of Parliament, which has been extended till August 7.

The political message from the legislative overdrive seems to be the unparalleled power wielded by the Modi government. Its final hurdle was the Rajya Sabha, where the united opposition had earlier stalled controversial bills. With its latest legislative coup, the government has found a way to overcome its handicap in the upper house, although it has only 107 members in the Rajya Sabha, 14 short of majority. The victory, however, has come at a cost. All the controversial bills were passed by sidestepping the scrutiny of parliamentary standing committees.

In the past, first sessions of Parliament tended to be shorter, and standing committees would be formed during the budget session. But this time, the government straightaway went into the budgetcum-monsoon session. “This is unprecedented. There never used to be such a long session immediately after the elections,” said Congress MP Shashi Tharoor.