BAL RAM JAKHAR

  

BAL RAM JAKHAR  

Dr. Bal Ram Jakhar has the distinction of beginning his career in the Parliament by occupying the office of the Speaker immediately after his election to the Seventh Lok Sabha for the first time. He also has the rare honour of having been chosen unanimously to preside over two successive Lok Sabha for their full terms. A farmer-turned politician, Jakhar lived fully upto the challenges of the august office and conducted the business of the House with utmost dignity, decorum and objectivity. He relinquished the office of the Speaker in 1989, only to continue to play an active role in the Party he belongs to and through it in the country's socio-political life.

Bal Ram Jakhar was born on 23 August 1923 at Panjkosi village in the Ferozepur district of the State of Punjab. He had a brilliant academic career. He graduated in 1945 from the Forman Christian College, Lahore with Honours in Sanskrit. He is virtually a linguist, being well-versed in English, Sanskrit, Hindi, Urdu and Punjabi.  Jakhar is essentially an agriculturist, more particularly an orchardist. After graduation, he adopted the family profession of farming and made use of modem techniques for the development of orchards and vineyards in his farmlands. Through years of hardwork, he succeeded in converting age-old and barren lands into green meadows and flourishing orchards and vineyards, raising the yields manifold.

Jakhar's services in the field of fruit-growing received national recognition when he was awarded the title 'All India Udyan Pandit' by the President of India in 1975. In the same year, he was also chosen to lead the Farmers' Delegation to the International Agricultural Producers' Conference in Washington. During this period, he was elected President of the Punjab Cooperative Grape Growers' Federation and as the President of the Farmers' Forum of the State. Recognising his contributions in the field of agriculture, he was awarded the honorary degrees of Doctor of Science and 'Vidya Martand', respectively, by the Haryana Agricultural University, Hissar and the Gurukul Kangri Vishwa Vidyalay, Hardwar.  It was his leadership role among the farming community that eventually pushed Jakhar into an active political role at the national level.

Jakhar's legislative career began in 1972 when he was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Punjab. Within one year of his election to the Assembly, he was inducted into the Council of Ministers as the Deputy Minister of Co-operation, Irrigation and Power. He remained a Minister till 1977. On being re-elected to the Assembly in 1977, he was chosen as the Leader of the Congress (1) Legislature Party and in that capacity was recognised as the Leader of the Opposition in the Punjab Assembly, a position he held till January 1980 when he was elected to the Seventh Lok Sabha from the Ferozepur parliamentary constituency. Through his active role in the affairs of Punjab as a political activist, legislator, Minister and as the Leader of the Opposition, Jakhar had already proved himself to be a prudent and able administrator,

Jakhar was elected the Speaker of the Seventh Lok Sabha on 22 January 1980. Even though Jakhar did not have any previous experience as a Presiding Officer, he was completely unperturbed about the great responsibility cast upon him in his new role. With a realistic role-perception, with confidence in himself and with his innate common sense, Jakhar went on discharging his duties as the Presiding Officer of the House. He was aware that the office of the Speaker played a crucial role in the smooth and effective functioning of the House of the People represented by members with diverse linguistic, cultural, religious, regional and socio-political backgrounds.  

Jakhar always strove to carry on the business of the House with utmost dignity, decorum and objectivity. Firm, but at the same time sensitive to the mood of the House, he laid stress on the cooperation of the members in the smooth and orderly conduct of the House and thereby in projecting a healthy image of the Parliament to the country and outside. Though he attached great importance to procedures, rules, conventions and customs, he did not let them blunt the opinion of the House. He subscribed to the general rule in a parliamentary democracy that the House is the ultimate master of its own procedures.

The manner in which Jakhar conducted the proceedings of the Seventh Lok Sabha earned appreciation from all quarters and endeared him to all sections of the House. Therefore, on his re-election to the Lok Sabha in the General Elections of December 1984, this time from the Sikar parliamentary constituency of Rajasthan, he was the natural choice to preside over the new House as well. On 16 January 1985, he was re-elected, once again unanimously, to be the Speaker of the Eighth Lok Sabha. When he relinquished the office of the Speaker at the end of the life of the Eighth Lok Sabha in December 1989, Jakhar earned the distinction of being the only Speaker in independent India to have presided over two successive Lok Sabhas for their full terms, only about a month short of a full decade (i.e. from 22 January 1980 to 18 December 1989),

Jakhar's decade-long stint as the Speaker of the Seventh and the Eighth Lok Sabhas was remarkable in many ways. All along, he remained alert in protecting the rights and privileges of the members individually and of the House collectively. He once ruled that any officer of the Government deposing before a Parliamentary Committee was protected by the privileges of the House. Similarly, though he respected the role of the Judiciary in a democracy, he held that each organ of the Government should act only within the realm allotted to each by the Constitution, each respecting the rights and privileges of the other. Accordingly, in November 1987, Jakhar ruled that courts cannot compel the Speakers to present themselves before the courts in defence of what is perceived as their omissions and commissions relating to the functioning of Parliament.

Speaker Jakhar was steadfast in defending all matters concerning the privileges of the House. He was equally resolute in defending the sanctity of constitutional offices and every attempt to drag such offices for discussion in Parliament was discouraged by Jakhar.

Jakhar's tenure as Speaker also witnessed the evolution of several procedural innovations and initiatives in the Lok Sabha. After 1952, for the first time, a comprehensive review of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha was undertaken in 1989, under Speaker Jakhar's initiative, and several changes were formalised and incorporated into the Rules in May 1989. It was also during his tenure that the Anti-Defection Law which provided for disqualification of members on grounds of defection was enacted by Parliament in 1985. The Members of Lok Sabha (Disqualification on Grounds of Defection) Rules, 1985 came into force with effect from 18 March 1986.

Jakhar's initiative in revamping the Committee System in the Indian Parliament is indeed noteworthy. The full-fledged Departmentally Related Standing Committee System introduced during the life of the Tenth Lok Sabha was only an offshoot of the original Subject Committee System introduced by Jakhar in August-September 1989, after years of deliberations during the life of the Seventh and the Eighth Lok Sabhas. Similarly, the beginnings for the computerisation and automation of the services to the members of Parliament were also made during the Speakership of Jakhar. All along, he also took keen interest in the expansion of the Parliament Library and its Research, Reference, Documentation and Information Services for the benefit of the members,

In the Lok Sabha, Jakhar has also been the Chairman of the Rules Committee, the Business Advisory Committee and the General Purposes Committee. He took keen interest in organising periodic Conferences of the Chairmen of various Committees common to the national Parliament and the State Legislatures in New Delhi. This facilitated the sharing of each others' experiences and thereby led to the more effective and purposeful functioning of these Committees throughout the country.

Jakhar demonstrated a remarkable sense of history when he took the initiative for the setting up of a Parliamentary Museum and Archives (PMA) and the Hall of National Achievements during his Speakership. The interest he showed in recalling the great sacrifices and contributions made by the leaders of the Indian freedom movement only testified to this sense of history.The celebrations marking the birth centenaries of Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad and Dada Saheb Mavalankar merit mention here.

Another area that received special attention from Bal Ram Jakhar during his Speakership was in improving inter parliamentary contacts and cooperation between the Parliament of India and other individual Parliaments as also with the international parliamentary associations. With these objectives in view, Jakhar facilitated the hosting of many Conferences of Parliamentarians at different levels. The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) Regional seminar in 1981 and the Conference of the Commonwealth Speakers and Presiding Officers in 1986 were held in New Delhi on his initiative. He was also very actively associated with the activities of the CPA and the IPU. Jakhar also holds the distinction of leading the largest number of Indian Parliamentary Delegations to the IPU and the CPA Conferences and during visits to other Parliaments of the world.

Jakhar was a member of the CPA Executive Committee for several years since 1980. He was the first Asian to have been elected Chairman of the Executive Committee of the CPA in 1984 for a three-year term. In these capacities, he chaired and attended several meetings of the CPA Executive Committee. He was also elected a member of the Executive Committee of the IPU in 1983.

Jakhar relinquished the office of the Speaker on 18 December 1989 in the wake of the constitution of the Ninth Lok Sabha. The impact he made on the office of the Speaker and in Parliament and on the country at large during his decade-long stint as the Speaker of the Lok Sabha did not go unrecognised by the Congress Party which he served for long before coming to occupy this office. Recognising his own achievements and services to the Party, he was appointed General-Secretary of the All India Congress Committee (I) by the Party President in 1990.

In the General Elections of 1991 held after the collapse of the then Government, Bal Ram Jakhar was once again elected to the Lok Sabha from the Sikar constituency and became Minister of Agriculture in the new Government.

As the Union Minister of Agriculture, during the 1991-1996 period, Jakhar's primary concern was protecting the interests of the Indian farmers who constitute nearly 80 per cent of the population. In Parliament and in the Government, he successfully projected and protected the interests of the farming community. He strongly resisted both national and international pressures for cutting down the subsidies to the farmers in the wake of the liberalisation of the economy initiated by the Government of which he was a part. He firmly believed that encouragement to industries should not be at the cost of the farmers of the country. As the Minister of Agriculture, he represented India at various International Conferences relating to fisheries and agriculture, besides leading several Ministerial Delegations to other countries.

Jakhar did not contest the elections to the Eleventh Lok Sabha in 1996. However, he continued to be active in the affairs of the Congress Party and in the national politics. Again, with the Eleventh Lok Sabha proving to be a short-lived one, Jakhar soon had the opportunity to contest yet another election to the Lok Sabha successfully from the Bikaner parliamentary constituency in Rajasthan in February 1998.

Besides being a senior leader of the Congress Party and in the national politics and a distinguished parliamentarian, Jakhar has also been the Chairman of the Bharat Krishak Samaj and the Chairman of the managing committee of the Jallianwala Bagh Memorial Trust. He is also actively associated with numerous other socio-cultural and literary organisations. It merits mentioning here that he did not let his busy public life to inhibit his scholarly instincts as he authored an authentic work on contemporary Indian politics, People, Parliament and Administration. With his unceasing interest in agriculture, sports and literary activities, combined with his much demanding parliamentary and public work, Jakhar leads a very hectic life today, still very spirited and sprightly at 75.

M. ANANTHASAYANAM AYYANGAR

M. ANANTHASAYANAM AYYANGAR Stepping in to fill the void created by the sudden demise of G.V. Mavalankar, the first Speaker of Lok Sabha, Shri M. Ananthasayanam Ayyangar proved himself well suited to carry on the unfinished task of consolidating the gains of freedom and of evolving a healthy parliamentary culture in the new Republic. Through a public life spanning over six decades as a lawyer, as a social activist and freedom fighter, as an outstanding parliamentarian and Speaker and as a distinguished scholar, Ayyangar left an indelible imprint of his personality in every area he chose to tread on in life. Madabhooshi Ananthasayanam Ayyangar was born on 4 February 1891 at Tiruchanur near the spiritual town of Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh. After completing his initial education in the Devasthanam High School at Tirupati, Ayyangar moved to Madras for higher studies. After obtaining his B.A. degree from the Pachaiyappa's College, Madras, he earned a degree in Law from the Madras Law College in 1913. Ayyangar began his career as a Mathematics teacher in 1912. In 1915 he ventured into the legal profession- Within a short period, he established himself as a professional lawyer and, with his unusual ability to memorise cases, soon earned the reputation of being a 'walking digest of case laws'. Ayyangar did not treat the profession only as a means to earn his livelihood. He was deeply interested in improving the judicial system of the country to suit the needs of the people of India rather than see it as an extension of the British judicial system. He, therefore, strongly advocated independence of the Judiciary and urged the Government of India to raise the status of the Federal Court to that of a Supreme Court. He was very much concerned about the humiliation as also the hardships faced by the Indian people due to the vesting of the ultimate appellate authority of India's judicial system in the hands of the Privy Council in England, An activist lawyer, Ayyangar was also the President of the Bar Association of Chittoor, his home town. Ayyangar was drawn into the freedom movement at a very early age. Within his home State, he was one of the leading figures of the Indian National Congress which was spearheading the National Movement against British colonialism. Responding to Gandhiji's call for 'Non-cooperation' with the British establishment, Ayyangar suspended his legal practice for one year during 1921-22. When the Congress withdrew its policy of boycott of Councils and decided to contest the elections for the Central Legislative Assembly in 1934, Ayyangar was elected to the House with an overwhelming majority. The objective of the Congress in contesting the election was to fight the Government from within. Well-equipped with facts and figures and by his innate debating skills, Ayyangar soon made his mark as a forceful debater in the Assembly. From the back benches, he moved on to the front benches and then came a time when not a single day passed without his saying something forceful in the Assembly against the Government and in the interests of the Congress and the National Movement. This remarkable performance of Ayyangar in the Assembly provoked a European writer to refer to him as the 'Emden of the Assembly', alluding to the German submarine of that name, which caused untold havoc to the Allied Navy in the early days of the Second World War. Between 1940 and 1944 Ayyangar suffered imprisonment for nearly three years, first for taking part in the 'Individual Satyagraha Campaign' and later in the 'Quit India Movement' of 1942.   Apart from taking active part in the movement for political freedom for the country, Ayyangar was involved in various other activities directed towards the social emancipation of the downtrodden sections of the society. Inspired by Gandhiji's constructive programmes for fighting social evils like untouch ability, Ayyangar was in the forefront of such movements launched to ensure temple entry for the Harijans and the abolition of untouchability in his home State. Later, in his capacity as the President of the Harijan Sevak Sangh, Ayyangar initiated several programmes for the economic and social uplift of the Harijans. He also took keen interest in the co-operative movement and in the activities of the local-self Government institutions in Chittoor. In fact, his first exposure to a representative institution was with the Municipal Council of Chittoor, to which he was once elected during the early days of his political career. Later, he was elected Director of the Co-operative District Bank of Chittoor. Ayvangar was one of the top-ranking leaders of the Congress Party in Andhra Pradesh and held several important positions in the Party before Independence. He served as President, District Congress Committee, Chittoor. Subsequently, he was nominated to the Andhra Provincial Congress Committee and the All India Congress Committee. During 1946-47, he was also the Secretary of the Congress Party in Parliament. Ayyangar served as a member of the Constituent Assembly. In the wake of the decision to separate the Constitution-making functions of the Constituent Assembly from its legislative functions and the consequent election of G.V. Mavalankar as the Speaker of the Constituent Assembly (Legislative), Ayyangar was chosen to be its Deputy Speaker. He also served in the Steering Committee of the Constituent Assembly. During 1950-52, Ayyangar continued to be the Deputy Speaker of the Provisional Parliament. When an Estimates Committee was constituted for the first time by the Provisional Parliament in 1950, Ayyangar was the choice to be its Chairman. He skilfully conducted its meetings and established a name for the Committee. When the First Lok Sabha was constituted in 1952, Ayyangar was the unanimous choice to be its Deputy Speaker. While discharging his duties as the Deputy Speaker, Ayyangar had the added responsibility of being the Chairman of the Estimates Committee of the Lok Sabha for two more years and that of heading the Railway Convention Committee in the next two years until he was elected unanimously to preside over the Lok Sabha on 8 March 1956, on Speaker Mavalankar's sudden demise. Thus, coming to occupy the exalted office of the Speaker of the Lok Sabha was a culmination of a legislative career which began with the Central Legislative Assembly in 1934. By now Ayyangar had already proved himself to be a very articulate and effective parliamentarian with a rich fund of experience and knowledge of the working of parliamentary institutions and their practices and procedures. He was deeply committed to upholding the parliamentary norms, and was endowed with a tremendous sense of humour which not only helped enliven parliamentary proceedings but also at times enabled him to make a point more forcefully and at the same time pleasantly on the floor of Parliament. During his brief tenure as the Speaker of the First Lok Sabha, Ayvangar had proved himself a worthy inheritor of the high traditions in parliamentary life established by Speaker Mavalankar. From the very beginning, it was Ayyangar's constant endeavour to uphold and fortify the traditions and conventions already brought into India's parliamentary system. Through his objective and unbiased conduct, he endeared himself to all sections of the House. Though there was no official Leader of the Opposition in the House, Ayyangar treated the stalwarts of the Opposition with the respect and regard due to them and always sought to ensure a balance between the Government and the Opposition. When the Second Lok Sabha was constituted in 1957, Ayyangar was once again the unanimous choice of the House to be its Speaker for the next five years. The innumerable rulings and observations made by Ayyangar as Speaker would amply demonstrate his political vision, legal acumen, mastery of and respect for the parliamentary procedures, understanding of the dynamics of governance and identification with the larger problems and causes of the country. On the points raised before him, he ruled with precision and clarity. To his credit are a number of Rulings and Directions which settled many complex parliamentary issues in those formative years of the Indian Republic. Ayyangar's observations on Adjournment Motions, Bills, Resolutions, Standing Committees, Calling Attention Notices, etc. are today integral part of the large volume of settled parliamentary practices and procedures in India. His rulings on the subject of Questions, Quorum and policy statements being made by Ministers outside the House when the House is in Session, have been pace-setting. Ayyangar clearly laid down the rule that as a matter of courtesy to the House, all enunciations of policy or change of policy or announcements of new policy must first be brought to the notice of the House while the House was in Session. He was firm in dealing with members on issues which had a bearing on the decorum in the House or respect to the Chair. The issue of Indian Parliament's relations with other Parliaments of the world also received Ayyangar's special attention. For this purpose he led several Parliamentary Delegations to other countries and to the Conferences of International Parliamentary Associations. He was the Leader of the Indian Parliamentary Delegation to the 49th Inter­parliamentary Conference held in Tokyo in 1960, He also took keen interest in the Conferences of Presiding Officers of Legislative Bodies in India. He saw in these Conferences opportunities to evolve uniform practices and procedures in the Indian Legislatures and to discuss matters of common parliamentary interest. While remaining an active parliamentarian, and in later years, after leaving active political life, Ayyangar continued to be associated with a large number of socio-cultural and educational organisations. These organisations included the Harijan Sevak Sangh, the Ram Vilas Sabha, the Dramatic Associations of Chittoor, the Constitution Club, and the Indian Association of World Federal Government. Ayyangar was elected to the Lok Sabha for the third time in the General Elections of 1962. However, he resigned his membership soon after the elections to serve as the Governor of Bihar. That was to mark the end of the nearly three decade-long distinguished parliamentary career. Undoubtedly, through this long period of service, the institution of Parliament and the country in general benefited enormously from Ayyangar's knowledge, his parliamentary skill and his broad vision of politics, religion and of national problems. The encomiums showered on Ayyangar on relinquishing the office of the Speaker in 1962 echoed the glowing tributes paid to Dadasaheb Mavalankar in 1956. It was between these two distinguished Speakers that the foundations of a strong and healthy parliamentary culture were laid in India. India's democratic institutions owe a great deal to their unqualified commitment to parliamentary institutions, to their alertness in upholding the dignity of the House, the prestige of the members and the values of parliamentary democracy and to their relentless efforts in evolving sound parliamentary procedures and practices. After parliamentary life, Ayyangar's greatest contribution, perhaps, was in the field of education. An erudite scholar, Ayyangar was an authority on Indology, Comparative Religion, Philosophy, Sanskrit, Sanskrit Literature and on a wide variety of other subjects. Throughout his life, he took great interest in the study and propagation of Sanskrit and Indian Culture. He served for sometime as a Member of the Central Advisory Board of Education and later as the Chancellor of the Rishikul University at Hardwnr. Recognising his contributions to the field of learning, he was conferred the honorary degree of Doctor of Literature by the Shri Vaishnava Theological University, Brindavan, in 1954. Besides regularly editing a Telugu weekly Sri Venkatesa Patrika, Ayyangar also had a book on Indian Parliament, Our Parliament, to his credit. Ayyangar believed in the essential unity of mankind and was an advocate of secularism and a champion of the cause of religious unity in the country. He was greatly pained by the communal feelings spreading and the misuse of religion for political purposes. He believed that the best way of sensitizing people against me dangers of communalism was by creating mass awareness about the true content of all religions. According to him, religions evolved primarily to help remove differences between man and man and to inculcate the feeling of brotherhood in man and thereby to elevate him.  Equally significant were his views on the pernicious caste system in the country. Ayyangar was one of the earliest national leaders during the struggle for Independence to join the fight against the evils of untouchability and caste system. He believed that historically caste system was not an original part of the Indian social fabric but rather only a later addition to it. According to Ayyangar, there was no such thing as a high caste or a low caste but only a higher state of consciousness and a lower state of consciousness, neither of which had anything to do with birth. He was convinced that the denial of the right of worship to anyone on the basis of his birth was an offence against divinity itself. It was this belief that motivated him to support the claim of the Dalits for entry into the Hindu temples. During the days of the freedom struggle he was one of the best known fighters for the uplift of the Harijans,  After serving a full term as the Governor of Bihar, Ayyangar retired from active political life and returned to his hometown, 'Tirupati, to spend the evening of his life. Even at this stage, Ayyangar remained very active. Work for the Sanskrit Vidyapeeth at Tirupati and several charitable organisations kept Ananthasayanam Ayyangar busy till he breathed his last on  19 March 1978, at the age of 87.

Lok Sabha Elections Results of Tripura East

Lok Sabha Elections Results of Tripura East

List Of Winning Candidates
Year	Voters In 1000	Voter Turnout (% age)	Winner			Runner-up
			Candidate Name	%age	Party	Candidate Name	%age	Party
2004	623.09	66.53	BAJU BAN RIYAN	66.48	CPM	PULIN BIHARI DEWAN	16.61	BJP
1999	564.38	66.03	Baju Ban Riyan	54.82	CPM	Jishnu Dev Varma	27.76	BJP
1998	651.19	79.15	Baju Ban Riyan	50.3	CPM	Drao Kumar Reang	38.9	INC
1996	612.13	77.66	Baju Ban Riyan	54.35	CPM	Kashiram Reang	28.76	INC
1991	477.13	64.23	Bibhu Kumari Devi (w)	82.06	INC	Baju Ban Riyan	6.69	CPM
1989	600.72	81.85	Manikya Bikram Kishore Debbarma Bahadur	49.3	INC	Baju Banriyan	47.89	CPM
1984	448.15	76.36	Baju Ban Riyan	52.4	CPM	Kirit Bikram Kishore Debbarman	43.08	INC
1980	414.54	79.38	Bajuban Riyan	48.19	CPM	Ratnaprava Das	25.13	IND
1977	291.09	66.9	Kirit Bikram Kishore Deb Barma	47.64	INC	Dasaratha Deb	42.95	CPM

Lok Sabha Elections Results of Tripura West

Lok Sabha Elections Results of Tripura West

List Of Winning Candidates
Year	Voters In 1000	Voter Turnout (% age)	Winner			Runner-up
			Candidate Name	%age	Party	Candidate Name	%age	Party
2004	701.16	67.32	KHAGEN DAS	70.86	CPM	NIRMALA DASGUPTA	16	INC
1999	659.41	70.05	Samar Chowdhury	57.46	CPM	Sudhir Ranjan Majumdar	26.86	AITC
1998	745.57	82.4	Samar Choudhury	47.48	CPM	Radhika Ranjan Gupta	44.91	INC
1996	691.22	80.41	Badal Choudhury	50.7	CPM	Ashok Kumar Bhattacharyya	38.88	INC
1991	573.13	70.05	Santosh Mohan Deo	83.47	INC	Manik Sarkar	6.42	CPM
1989	688.26	85.75	Santosh Mohan Dev	60.95	INC	Manik Sarkar	36.31	CPM
1984	486.67	78.23	Ajoy Biswas	48.68	CPM	Sudhir Ranjan Majumder	47.94	INC
1980	431.19	80.55	Ajoy Biswas	46.83	CPM	Ashok Kr. Bhattacharya	33.76	INC(I)
1977	315.74	73.27	Sachindralal Singha	34.14	BLD	Tarit Mohan Dsgupta	32.5	INC