Karnataka - Hubli-Dharwad   

It had all the ingredients of a Parliament session

Staff Correspondent

Law students debate on 33 per cent reservation for women at the mock parliament Law students debate on women's reservation at mock parliament

HUBLI: "In Parliament, very rarely does a healthy debate take place like the one we had today," said former MP from Dharwad South I.G. Sanadi.

It was obvious that Prof. Sanadi was bowled over by the debating expertise of the students of Gurusiddappa Kotambri Law College at the annual Mock Parliament organised by the college.

Selected law students studying in the first, second and third year of the five year B.A.L.L.B course and the regular L.L.B course had all come prepared to present their views and arguments over the Constitution (Amendment) Bill for providing 33 per cent reservation for women in Parliament and State Legislatures.

It took the former MP, officiating as the speaker of the Mock Parliament, more than two hours to finally put the Bill to vote. And then it was declared as approved as the members of the ruling "UPA Government" expressed their full support amidst protest from Opposition parties. Dressed in the attire of parliamentarians representing various States, students had different views on the issue.

Although majority of the students presented their views in Kannada and English, there were "parliamentarians" from other States taking the help of the language of their region including Hindi, Marathi, Malayalam and Telugu, to put forward their arguments. One woman "Parliamentarian" even used Sanskrit.

Although it was a mock parliament, it had all the salient features of a regular Parliament session. There were explanations, objections, accusations, interruptions, quips, turmoil and witty remarks. There was even an oath-taking ceremony for a newly-elected MP who had "won a by-election".

After Vijayalaxmi Baddi, acting as the minister for parliamentary affairs, tabled the Bill, it was two hours of non-stop debate on the subject. Although a faulty sound system posed problems for the participants in airing their views, they nonetheless succeeded in putting forward what they had in mind.

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