Highlights of the 17th Lok Sabha: Landmark Bills, record-high suspensions, a no-confidence motion

Written by Samaa Liyah Dhar

With the members of the 18th Lok Sabha set to be elected on Tuesday, data compiled by the PRS Legislative Research, an independent group that tracks Parliament, shows that the 17th Lok Sabha was more productive than the 16th Lok Sabha, both led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP government.

Over the five years of the 17th Lok Sabha, the Lower House of Parliament functioned for 88% of its scheduled time compared to 21% for the 16th Lok Sabha. However, the 17th Lok Sabha held sittings for a total of 274 days across five years – only four previous Lok Sabha had fewer sitting days. Notably, in 2020, there were just 33 sitting days owing to the Covid-19 pandemic. In comparison, the 16th Lok Sabha had 331 sitting days.

Of the total 15 sessions of the 17th Lok Sabha, 11 were adjourned early.

The 17th Lok Sabha was notable for the record-high number of suspensions. There were a total 206 instances of MPs in both the Lower and Upper House being suspended. In the 2023 Winter Session alone, 146 MPs were suspended for staging protests in Parliament.

The 17th Lok Sabha, like the previous one, saw one no-confidence motion moved against the government. Discussions lasted 20 hours, compared to 11 hours and 46 minutes in the 16th Lok Sabha, but the motion was defeated.

The outgoing Lok Sabha was also notable for the absence of a Deputy Speaker. It’s the first time no Deputy Speaker was appointed for the duration of the Lok Sabha tenure. Article 93 of the Constitution states that “the House of the People (Lok Sabha) must choose the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker as soon as may be”.

The 17th Lok Sabha passed 179 Bills, 58% of which were passed within two weeks of their introduction and 35% with less than an hour of