A visit to the Parliament House

Every time I visit Delhi, I feel a sense of awe for the power this city exudes. Countless policy decisions being made every day in various Ministries and the Parliament affect lives of a billion Indians in unimaginable ways. It’s only befitting therefore that most of this work happens in the precincts of the grand architectural area called Lutyens’ Delhi.

So far, I had to stay content with viewing the edifice of India’s power corridor from the outside, save a brief visit to North and South Block a few years back. But the desire to see the Indian Parliament and the LIVE proceedings of a house in action stayed elusive. The fact that most of my Delhi trips were planned at short notice, did not allow me to make any elaborate plans besides official work.

But last week was different. I was on a 3 day visit to Delhi and with the help of a few friends at PRS Legislative Research, I managed to get a pass to the Public Gallery of Lok Sabha during the ZERO hour (12 – 1 pm) on Friday, 5th March 2010. I was so excited that I managed to get an official meeting at Election Commission of India to be re-scheduled by a few hours just so that I wouldn’t lose this opportunity!

On the day of the visit, I reached the Parliament House at 11:30am. Prior briefing ensured that I didn’t carry any prohibited items (i.e. anything except ID card and Currency notes), and breezed through the Reception building security in 10 minutes. This is when you land right in front of the main Parliament House (see image below – I didn’t take it!).

I was gripped by an immediate sense of awe standing in front of this majestic building. Most of us would have seen it a million times on TV but this was different. I think I stood for about 5 minutes to really digest the size and beauty of this view.

I was standing in front of Gate 1 and besides the mammoth bronze statue of Mahatma Gandhi. There were several media persons hurrying around, I could spot 3 to 4 interviews with MPs happening close by. They were talking about the contentious Women’s Reservation Bill that was scheduled for discussion the following week.

Finally, I made my way to a small opening in the building meant for a passage to the Public Gallery. At12:05 pm, after four long security checks, I finally stepped into the Public Gallery of Lok Sabha. My request for a front row sitting when asked to sit in the 4^th row met with a stern response from the guard - “Do what is told to you”. Apparently, the first two rows are reserved for women. Clearly, Public Gallery had implemented the Reservation Bill much ahead of the Lok Sabha itself!

As soon as I took my seat and glanced at the Lok Sabha floor, I couldnt help but notice how small the Lok Sabha floor actually was! Quite in contrast to the exterior of the Parliament House or how the Lok Sabha itself appeared on TV, the real Lok Sabha resembled a small auditorium with dim lighting (it was artificially lit since little sunlight came in) and poor audibility – at least from Public Gallery.

My initial sense of disappointment was made up by the proximity of Public Gallery to the scene of action. I could clearly spot the members on the floor and was delighted to see all key leaders present – PM Manmohan Singh, Pranab Mukherjee, Verappa Moily, Jairam Ramesh, Sharad Pawar, Laloo Yadav, Sushma Swaraj, LK Advani, Deve Gowda, Mulayam Singh Yadav, Sharad Yadav and of course the speaker, Meira Kumar. With recent trends of increasing absenteeism in Indian Parliament, I considered myself quite lucky at witnessing action of a near full house!

Coming to the actual proceedings, ZERO hour is supposed to be a free-wheeling open house when opposition MPs can bring up urgent issues of national interest, without prior notice. The first 40 minutes of the ZERO hour were taken up by a long drawn speech by Murli Manohar Joshi of BJP amidst much fanfare, even though the Speaker made repeated requests to terminate the speech after 30 minutes.

Joshi spoke in brilliant Hindi about diverse issues such as food insecurity and government’s complete ignorance of farmer’s problems, Bt Brinjal debate, reservations on UID etc., though he appeared incoherent in parts. All through his speech, I was treated to the usual tamasha of Lok Sabha – thumping of desks, shouting across the floor, regular warnings by the Speaker, MPs standing up and walking etc. I could see people around me in the Public Gallery giggling when all this was happening.

Finally, at about 12:45pm, the PM stood up and began with his response. He was barely audible from the Gallery so I couldn’t hear much except for the fact that he was praising the economic progress in India over last 5 years. At 12:50pm, I left the Gallery to catch a 1pm appointment elsewhere! I later read in Rediff that the opposition wasn’t too impressed with PM’s response. On my way outside, I tried recalling the landmark moments in Indian history that were scripted in this great building. Quite an impossible task!

My brief peep into the Parliament's proceedings was quite overwhelming, much more than what I had imagined it to be. I wished I had spent a full day checking out rest of the Parliament House though I wasn’t sure if visitors were allowed to do that.