Goa Deputy Speaker Vishnu Surya Wagh today said tolerance levels of the ruling party towards the views of the Opposition in the State Assembly have diminished considerably over a period of time.
"I am not happy with the kind of debate in the Assembly. There are two parts to it. Opposition and ruling (benches), both are different sides of the same coin. The coin of democracy has two faces. The voice of Opposition has to be heard and it is Opposition's right to point out mistakes of the government," Wagh said.
"Opposition can pick up faults. The ruling (party) should also respect Opposition's right to pin point those mistakes. This tolerance off late has diminished," he said.
The BJP legislator was recently elected to the post of Deputy Speaker during the winter session of Goa assembly. The post fell vacant after Wagh's predecessor Anant Shet resigned to successfully contest as a Speaker.
Wagh said the tolerance has to be shown by both the sides - ruling and opposition.
"Some of the opposition member come only to make commotion in the House while some ruling parties make their floor management in such a way, the moment opposition opens the mouth, their shouting brigade starts creating the problem. This is unfair. You should quietly listen to the debate," he commented.
The Deputy Speaker said the impact of happenings in Lok Sabha, which are usually marred with disruptions, is also felt on Assembly in Goa.
"The legislators see that those who are making noise get more attention in newspapers while somebody who comes with detailed research does not find place," he said.
Wagh said direct telecast of the assembly proceedings is also affecting the functioning of the House.
"The legislators are now speaking for the camera, knowing the worth of media, they don't speak for their people or the state. Most of them have now fallen prey to the camera. Media has trapped us, we are falling into the trap laid by the media," he said.
"Actually it should have been reverse...The media should
have been after us trying to get the news," said Wagh, who is also a former journalist.
He said to run the Assembly peacefully, the Speaker can contribute a lot.
"One of the observations is that during Question Hour due to prolonged supplementary questions we cannot even have four questions raised during the given time of an hour. We should have been able to discuss and debate at least ten or nine questions. The debate should be concise," Wagh added.
"I have seen some of the members asking one question and twelve sub questions. They do it to harass the government machinery," he alleged.
