New Delhi, Aug. 10: On his last day as Rajya Sabha chairman, Hamid Ansari compared his role with that of an umpire or a referee whose "only source of reference is the book of rules", setting the standard for successor M. Venkaiah Naidu through his conduct.
"The Chair is like an umpire in cricket or a referee in a hockey match witnessing the play and the players, but without becoming a player. Its only source of reference is the book of rules," he said.
MPs cutting across party lines hailed Ansari for never allowing passage of any bill during disruptions in the House without discussion, as governments sometimes insist, and hoped the tradition would continue.
Ansari underlined the role of the upper House in portraying India's diversity and exercising restraint on hasty legislation. "This House is a creation of the Constitution and reflective of the wisdom and foresight of the founding fathers who wished it to portray India's diversity and to be a calibrated restraint on hasty legislation," he said.
He quoted Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, the country's first Vice-President, to stress the need for protection of minorities and the right to dissent. "A democracy is distinguished by the protection it gives to minorities. A democracy is likely to degenerate into tyranny if it does not allow the Opposition groups to criticise fairly, freely and frankly the policies of the government," Ansari said, quoting Radhakrishnan. The minorities and the Opposition also have their responsibilities, he said. The right to criticise should not degenerate into wilful hampering and obstruction of the work of Parliament.
Members of different parties bade farewell to Ansari, who served two terms as Vice-President and Rajya Sabha Chairman.
Leader of the House Arun Jaitley shared an anecdote about Ansari, who once used the term 'a federation of anarchists' to describe the way the Rajya Sabha transacted business.
"We wanted the Chair to set a precedent by expunging its own remarks. Rather than taking offence to it, you used that as an opportunity for a democratic debate on whether there was anything objectionable in the word 'anarchists' and the debate took an interesting dimension - whether anarchists can at all have a federation because each anarchist is a solo player who plays for himself and can never join others," Jaitley said.
Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh described Ansari as a "friend, philosopher and guide". "Despite the challenges the country is facing, it is making progress because of the guidance of people like you," Singh said.
Trinamul Congress MP Derek O'Brien shared some nuggets on Ansari - how he stays fit by doing yoga and going on evening walks, eating just two sandwiches for lunch for the last 40 years. He had introduced cricket as a regular sport at the Indian embassy in Iran.
O'Brien hailed Ansari's decision to extend the time of daily sittings from 5pm to 6pm. During Zero Hour, no time limit was set for members raising issues of public importance during Ansari's tenure. On the other hand, he fixed a three-minute limit for speeches in the Rajya Sabha so that more members got the opportunity to speak.
CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury, who too completed his Rajya Sabha term today, said Ansari lent gravitas to the House. "You stood like a rock in defence of the rights of this House."
