In his customary address to the media ahead of a parliamentary session, Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged Opposition leaders not to turn the Winter Session into a stage for theatrics. “Parliament is not a place for drama; it is a place for delivery," he said on Monday, adding: “For some time now, our Parliament is being used either as a warm-up arena for elections or as an outlet for frustration after defeat."

Prime Minister Modi’s strong admonitions and appeals to the opposition to not vent their frustration at their recent rout in the Bihar Assembly elections fell, quite predictably, on deaf ears. The wrath is not only directed at the ruling NDA alliance, but at the Election Commission, a constitutional body; also, at the courts, including the Supreme Court, for not supporting the spurious Congress and Trinamool Congress (TMC) allegations.

This is not the first time that such wastage of time and public money is being done — and that too at the temple of India’s democracy. Last year, the winter session lost more than 65 hours to adjournments. This year’s monsoon session ended with just about 29 per cent of the scheduled time marked for the Lok Sabha and 34 per cent for the Rajya Sabha.

This is a time when we must act. First and foremost, a process must be set in to bring a law that not just guarantees minimum days for the House to work, but also the hours it should be working. Any disruption must reflect in monetary losses for........

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