Former Karnataka MP profiles changing face of Indian Parliament

New Delhi, Sep 6 (UNI) After his stint as a politician, former Lok Sabha member B L Shankar has authored a book on Indian Parliament and delved into the changing face of the House in the past six decades.

Having secured a doctorate for his studies on India's Parliamentary system from the Bangalore University, the former chairman of Karnataka Assembly is now scouting for a publisher for his book ''Indian Parliament -- Its Changing Profile''.

A prominent face in the Janata Party and Janata Dal days in the state, Mr Shankar realised that he needed a Post Graduation degree while presiding over the upper chamber of Karnataka Legislature 2002.

After his unsuccessful bid to enter Lok Sabha as a Congress nominee, Mr Shankar did a doctoral thesis on Parliament of India.

He represented Chikmagalur Lok Sabha seat in 1996 from Janata Dal before shifting to state politics.

''My findings and analysis of the profiles of the MPs and the kinds of issues raised in Parliament by right after the formation of Parliament of India was an indicator of changes that are taking place in the Parliament.'' Parliament, which was the preserve of English and Hindi speaking 'elite classes' in the 1950s and 1970s gradually became a broad based House drawing representatives from rural backward castes and areas, he points out in his book.

In the second phase between 1970 and 90s things changed and the members seemed to emphasise on the identity aspect be it their efforts to communicate through vernacular languages. They did not hesitate to raise regional issues unlike their counterparts between 50s and 70s. ''I differ with experts like Subhas Kashyap who tended to think that the Parliamentary standards had declined over the years'', Mr Shankar who was in the Capital said.

About his future plans, he said he would like to bring out his thesis in a book form and plans to add couple of additional chapters dealing with issues like role of the upper chambers in the country and the controversies regarding Parliament's tiff with Judiciary.

UNI