With his Chandra Shekhar legacy...

The lot of a deputy chairman (as deputy presiding officers are known in the Rajya Sabha; in the Lok Sabha, it is deputy speaker, a position that has been vacant since 2019) is not an easy one.

- ADITI PHADNIS

The chairman presides over the question hour, rising when it is over. The so-called zero hour (when members are allowed to raise issues at relatively short notice, and do so sometimes with no notice at all) is usually handled by the deputy chairman. This is when the placards come out, papers are torn up, and mayhem sometimes rules. It is the deputy chairman who presides over important and sometimes contentious debates. One needs to have eyes at the back of one's head.

Harivansh Narayan Singh, or Harivansh as he prefers to be known as, first became Rajya Sabha member in 2014 and was elected deputy chairman in 2018. His name was forwarded by his party, the Janata Dal (United), or the JD(U). In his position, he remained unmoved by the acrobatics by his party in Bihar. His Rajya Sabha term came to an end in 2020 and with it his position as deputy chairman. But his party, which had returned to the National Democratic Alliance, again nominated him for the Rajya Sabha and also for deputy chairmanship. At his re-election, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said: "He is an outstanding umpire and belongs to all aisles of the House."