Qurban Ali 
This article is part of a series by The Wire titled ‘The Early Parliamentarians’, exploring the lives and work of post-independence MPs who have largely been forgotten. The series looks at the institutions they helped create, the enduring ideas they left behind and the contributions they made to nation building.
The ninth Lok Sabha elections heralded a new era in the life of parliamentary democracy in India. No single political party could secure an absolute majority of its own in the House and there was, for the first time in the history of Indian Parliament, a ‘hung Parliament’. In spite of this political uncertainty, members of the Lok Sabha, cutting across party lines, unanimously elected Rabi Ray as the speaker. Endowed with an inherent simplicity and transparent sincerity, Ray enriched and enhanced the prestige and dignity of the office of the speaker by his impartial and judicious approach.
Ray was born on November 26, 1926 in Bhangarh village in the Puri (now Khurda) district of Orissa. Like the rest of his countrymen, he was deeply drawn towards the freedom struggle. A true socialist and a disciple of Rammanohar Lohia, Ray shot into the limelight in 1946-47, when he was attending Ravenshaw College (now University), Cuttack and was arrested along with other students for lowering the Union Jack and unfurling the Tricolour. Though the country was still under foreign rule, the British government ultimately had to yield to the students’ demand for unfurling the Tricolour in educational institutions.
After graduating with a history B.A. (Hons) from the premier college of the state, Ravenshaw College, Cuttack, Ray later studied law in Madhusudan Law College, Cuttack. The foundation of his future political career was laid when he was elected president of the students’ unions of both colleges.
Ray was one of Lohia’s closest associates and one of the founders of the Young Socialist League (YSL) or ‘Naujawan Samajwadi Sangh’ in 1949, later known as Samajwadi Yuvjan Sabha (SYS). Lohia’s visit to Odisha in 1948 and his advice to address the unprivileged touched Ray’s heart. Following socialist principles, he even refused to mention his caste in the examination form he had to fill at Ravenshaw College.
An ardent believer in socialism from his college days, Ray joined the Socialist Party as its member in 1948. Due to his innate qualities of leadership and his deep commitment to the socialist cause, he always remained at the forefront of the socialist movement. At the foundation conference of Samajwadi Yuwak Sabha, held at Kashi Vidyapeeth, Varanasi in 1953, he was elected to the post of Joint Secretary, which he held till the following year. In 1955, Ray organised the SYS conference in Puri, Orissa, which was inaugurated by Shri Madhu Limaye. In 1956, under the leadership of Lohia, he founded the Socialist Party in Orissa, and was also a member of the national executive of the Socialist Party during that period. In 1960, he became the general secretary of the party for about a year.
Illustration: Pariplab Chakraborty
During the socialist movement, he was imprisoned many times in connection with various satyagrahas launched by the party during 1960-74 and was imprisoned during the emergency, 1975-76.
Ray’s association with parliament began in 1967, when he was elected to the Fourth Lok Sabha from the Puri constituency. He was the Leader of the Parliamentary Group of the Samyukta Socialist Party (SSP) while Lohia was a member of Lok Sabha during this period. Known for his outspoken and forthright views and for providing a constructive opposition, Ray was an articulate parliamentarian. His contribution to debates and indeed to national life as a whole was as enormous as it was rich. In 1974, he was elected to the Rajya Sabha from Orissa.
The general elections to the sixth Lok Sabha in 1977 resulted in a new political dispensation at the Centre. The Congress party, which had been dominating the national political horizon since independence, lost power for the first time following which the Janata Party formed the government. Impressed by Ray’s selfless service, Prime Minister Morarji Desai inducted him into his cabinet as health minister in January 1979, which he continued as till January 1980, alongside his duties as the general secretary of the Janata Party.
Ray returned to the Lok Sabha a second time on the Janata Dal ticket from the Kendrapara constituency in Orissa during the 1989 general elections. However, his moment of glory came between 1989 and 1991 when he became speaker of the ninth Lok Sabha and the first one from Odisha, during one of the most tumultuous periods of Indian politics. He was elected to the tenth Lok Sabha in 1991, for the third time.
On December 19, 1989, he was unanimously elected as the speaker of the ninth Lok Sabha. Fully conscious of the onerous responsibility and impartiality of the high office, Ray assured members that so long as he was the speaker, he would remain above party politics and would be fair to all.
During Ray’s tenure as speaker, V.P. Singh and Chandra Shekar were the Prime Ministers and Rajiv Gandhi was Leader of the Opposition. He was liked and respected by members across party lines in the Lok Sabha for the high standards maintained by him.
Although Ray’s tenure as speaker lasted just over a year and a half, there were many challenges he faced in each session, which he tackled with finesse and firmness. Besides having to give the decision on some ticklish procedural and related issues, he initiated certain procedural innovations, which have made the functioning of Parliament far more effective.
One of the most important and far-reaching decisions which Ray took related to the issue of disqualification of some of the members from the membership of the Lok Sabha following a split in the Janata Dal. Following the split in the Janata Dal on November 6, 1990, 58 members claimed to have constituted a group representing the break-away faction of the Janata Dal and they adopted the name of Janata Dal (S). There were claims and counter-claims about the timing of the split vis-a-vis the timing of expulsion. Ray had a tough time tackling these complex issues. Displaying a high sense of responsibility, he examined the pros and cons of the issue dispassionately before arriving at the decision. His impartiality was well served by his legal acumen. Indeed, this was a precedent setting ruling.
Yet another important decision taken by Ray as speaker was admitting the first ever notice of a motion for presenting an address to the president of India for the removal from office of a judge of the Supreme Court of India. He admitted the same and subsequently set up a committee for the purpose of making an investigation into the grounds on which the removal of the judge was prayed for. Since the motion has a life of its own under the law, it does not lapse with the dissolution of the House unlike other motions. The motion was finally decided by the tenth Lok Sabha.
Ray gave a new direction to the working of the Lok Sabha by allowing members more and more opportunities to raise issues affecting the common people, like availability of food through the public distribution system, drinking water facility, housing, healthcare, land for the tiller, agricultural inputs, employment, development of cottage and small industries, primary education, protection against exploitation and harassment of the poor and weaker sections. He also accorded priority to matters of national concern like communal riots, price rise, planning and development, strengthening of defence, etc. to enable the House to ventilate its genuine concern in these sensitive and crucial matters. He ably guided the deliberations of the House so that positive and constructive results flowed from the debates.
History was created during Ray’s tenure when, for the first time, a motion of confidence moved by Prime Minister V.P. Singh was discussed and adopted on the same day. Eleven months later, history was again created when, for the first time, a motion of confidence was defeated resulting in the fall of the V.P. Singh government.
During his speakership, Ray introduced certain changes in the practices and procedures of the House so as to provide more and more opportunities to the members for raising matters of urgent public importance. The ‘Zero Hour’, though not recognised in the Rules of Procedure, has always been used by members to raise issues and draw the attention of the House on matters of urgent public importance. Ray innovated an institutional arrangement to regulate the proceedings during the ‘Zero Hour’ for the better utilisation of the time of the House. After ascertaining the views of the leaders of various parties and groups in the House, seven members were allowed to make brief submissions on the matters of urgent public importance one by one provided they gave their notices by 10:30 am on the day of the sitting. This arrangement was appreciated by all sections of the House, as it not only resulted in matters being raised in a more orderly manner on the floor of the House and more optimal use of the time of the House, but also in very constructive results to the extent of forcing the government to make firm commitments on issues agitating the House or large sections thereof.
As a Union minister and Lok Sabha speaker, Ray had established a rich tradition in the conduct of the House. He worked with commitment for socialist ideas and moral values in life. He widely travelled as the Leader of various Parliamentary Delegations and was editor of “Chaukhamba” (Hindi) fortnightly and “Samata” (Oriya) monthly journals.
Ray passed away on March 6, 2017 after a prolonged illness. He was 91 and survived by his wife, Dr Saraswati Swain.
The then president of India, Pranab Mukherjee, condoled Ray’s passing in a condolence message to his wife. He said, “In his death, the nation has lost a leader who was always in touch with the grassroots of society.”
Then Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik described Ray as a ‘veteran socialist leader’. One of his disciples, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar said, “Rabi Rayji was like a guardian to me. His demise is a great loss to Indian politics and his contribution to the socialist movement will be remembered forever.”
Ray was a towering personality in national politics, who believed in the socialist ideology till the end and inspired many young politicians from Odisha as well as the country. During his six-decade-long political career, Ray did many developmental works in the district, including the establishment of a Krushi Viganya Kendra and Navodaya Vidyalaya. Ray was a champion of socialist politics and made significant contributions to the socio-economic development of people of the state.
Qurban Ali is a trilingual journalist who has covered some of modern India’s major political, social and economic developments. He has a keen interest in India’s freedom struggle and is now documenting the history of the socialist movement in the country.