​Beyond debate: On debate and India’s democracy

Addressing the two-day All India Speakers’ Conference in New Delhi on August 24, 2025, Union Home Minister Shah called attention to the frequent disruptions that have paralysed deliberations in Assemblies and Parliament. His point that “debate must take place in a democracy” is beyond any debate. But when one goes beyond the truism, a picture of India’s representative democracy in distress emerges. Bitterness between the government and the Opposition has erased the scope for any common ground, and Parliament has been reduced to a theatre of mutual diatribe. His remarks followed soon after the Opposition’s protests, demanding a debate on the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in Bihar, that led to repeated adjournments. Most of the legislative business was carried out with little or no debate. In a session with 21 sittings spread out over 32 days, 15 Bills were passed. According to PRS Legislative Research’s analysis, the Lok Sabha functioned for 29% of its scheduled time, and the Rajya Sabha for 34% — the lowest functioning seen during the 18th Lok Sabha. Two-thirds of the planned time was lost to repeated adjournments. In the Lower House, only 8% of starred questions received an oral reply, while it was 5% in the Upper House. On 12 days in the Rajya Sabha and on seven in the Lok Sabha, no questions were answered orally over the 21 days. Question Hour, an instrument of executive accountability, has been rendered ineffective.

The dysfunction of legislatures is linked to concentration of power in the chief executive, the Prime Minister and Chief Ministers. According to the Annual Review of State Laws 2024 by PRS Legislative Research, State Assemblies met for an average of just 20 days in 2024, down from 28 in 2017. Larger States such as Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh recorded only 16 sitting days, while Odisha and Kerala led with 42 and 38 days, respectively. More than half the Bills were passed on the same day, with little debate. Eight Assemblies do not have a Deputy Speaker; the Lok Sabha has not had a Deputy Speaker since June 2019. Parliamentary committees that used to be a platform for more deliberative and less acrimonious debates have also become vulnerable to partisanship. It is propitious that Mr. Shah thinks that there should be more debate in legislatures, but it will be meaningful only when the government translates that view into action by engaging with the Opposition. A starting point can be a consensus election of an Opposition leader as the Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha.