Responding to Union Home Minister Amit Shah's view that "debate must take place in a democracy," The Hindu editorial on 26/08/2025 argues that the frequent stalemates in both parliament and state legislatures are due to the concentration of power in the executive. While agreeing with the Minister's opinion, it puts the onus on the government for the dysfunction of the session, whose bitter relationship with the opposition leaves no scope for common ground. According to PRS Legislative Research’s analysis, the 18th Lok Sabha functioned at the lowest rate in the current session, with only 29% of its scheduled time, and the Rajya Sabha at 34%. Two-thirds of the planned time was lost to repeated adjournments. Only 8% of starred questions in the Lok Sabha and 5% in the Rajya Sabha were given oral replies. Question Hour has been ineffective in making the executive accountable. State Assemblies met for an average of just 20 days in 2024, down from 28 in 2017. More than half the Bills were passed on the same day, with little debate. Eight Assemblies do not have a deputy speaker; the post has been vacant in the Lok Sabha since 2019. Parliamentary committees, constituted for more deliberate discussions, are also now vulnerable to political bias. Hence, the editorial argues that the Home Minister's opinion will be meaningful only when the government engages with the opposition constructively. It concludes proposing a consensus election of Opposition leader as Deputy Speaker as a first step.
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