Vice President and Rajya Sabha chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar.
Credit: PTI File Photo
Vice President and Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar on Friday lamented that while the Judiciary and the Executive are in an overdrive to deliver, the scene in the Legislature is "dismal".
He also said while people in the political arena have all the rights to do politics, politicians must rise above party lines when it comes to nation's development.
Presiding over the 25th annual convocation of the New Delhi Institute of Management here, Dhankhar said the country's justice system is very robust and performs at the highest level.
"Our Executive headed by the prime minister is delivering. We are having roads, railways, penetration of technology, we have world class structures. But when it comes to the Legislature, your representatives, the scene is dismal. As chairman, Rajya Sabha, I don't see debate, dialogue, discussion. I see disruption," he lamented.
He told the students that they will have to create a system where those who deliver, those who vindicate their work, those who live up to constitutional expectations are appreciated.
He said people will have to speak up against those who fail to fulfil their mandate to deliver.
When the Supreme Court and the Executive are delivering, why should the legislature fail, he asserted.
"You know the status of the Supreme Court, you're happy that whatever be the difficulty, our Supreme Court delivers in the interest of the nation. The Executive is in overdrive to achieve achievements for you. Why should the Legislature fail? Take a note of it," he said.
Referring to the issue of governance, the vice president said the country's power corridors were once infested with power brokers and wheeler-dealers.
"Those power corridors have been sanitised. The institution of power brokers is dead, it can never revive," he said.
Transparency and accountability, Dhankhar said, are the hallmark of governance. "All this for one good reason, there is zero accommodation for corruption," he noted.
In an apparent reference to certain opposition leaders, he asked if someone is booked for transgression of laws, corruption or crime, should he take to streets or go to a court.