With no sign of election for the post of Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha, the Upper House is struggling to fill the presiding officer’s position.
In a meeting on Wednesday morning, the floor leaders of all political parties recommended that a panel of chairpersons should be made to share the responsibility. The suggestion came a day after Rajya Sabha Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu set a record of sorts by presiding over the house for the entire day.
There is no word on when the government is planning to announce the Deputy Chairman’s election.
It has not started any negotiations with other political parties.
The Opposition too has been cooling its heels and has not held formal deliberations on who will be their candidate.
“It is very clear that the government does not have the numbers in spite of looking at various permutations and combinations. It is very unlikely that the elections will take place in this session,” a senior Opposition MP said.
Crossing time limit
According to sources, during the customary morning meeting with floor leaders, Mr. Naidu chided them for not adhering to the time limit.
“The members insist on speaking and no one adheres to the time limit, making time management difficult for the Chair,” he said, according to another MP who was present in the meeting.
Mr. Naidu cited the example of the four-hour long debate on Andhra Pradesh on Tuesday. The agreed-upon time for the debate was two-and-half hours.
