Senior parliamentarians have expressed concern over the plummeting standards of debate in Parliament, particularly in the Lok Sabha.

Speaking to rediff.com on Wednesday, a cross-section of MPs described the overall standard of the debate on the no-confidence motion against the government on Monday and Tuesday in the Lower House as 'pedestrian'.

No-confidence motion debate complete coverage

Almost all, however, agreed there were some outstanding speeches.

Veteran Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Somnath Chatterjee said he was very unhappy with the attitude of some junior members of the House and the manner in which both the treasury and the opposition benches interrupted speeches.

"It seems that some of these interruptions are being caused merely to please someone in the party to which the members belong to. During my speech in the Lok Sabha, I had pointed out that there were some super speakers in the House who would not even listen to the person presiding over the proceedings.

"Personal attacks on rivals have become the order of the day. I am extremely unhappy with these developments. It is unfortunate. What more can I say," Chatterjee said.

Former Union minister of law and justice and a senior advocate, Shanti Bhushan, said Sonia Gandhi, the leader of the opposition, did a brilliant job in the House.

"I was impressed with the manner in which Sonia Gandhi made her speech, both while initiating the discussion on the no-confidence motion and while winding it up. She gave a fitting reply to Prabhunath Singh of the Samata Party who had made a personal attack on her. If Sonia Gandhi was born in Italy, then [Deputy Prime Minister Lal Kishenchand] Advani too was born in Karachi and he too got his citizenship after Independence," he said.
 
"Others who spoke well included Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Sushma Swaraj, [Congress leader] Jaipal Reddy and [former minister] Maneka Gandhi. Advani's speech was below standard. Prime minister Vajpayee made use of his stature and did not get involved in petty things during his reply," Bhushan said.

Jaipal Reddy, who was ticked off by an MPs for using difficult english, regretted that the general level of debate was not anywhere near the desired standards.

"Prabhunath Singh made a personal attack on Mrs Sonia Gandhi, something which no member should indulge in. As far as my own speech is concerned, I did not use any heavy sounding words. I used words that are part of the vocabulary of any man who is fond of reading. If someone does not understand it then I cannot help it," he said.

Former secretary general of the Lok Sabha, Subhash Kashyap, however, does not believe the quality of debate in Parliament has declined.

"Earlier, we had well-read persons from various professions coming into state assemblies and Parliament. Now ordinary people like Laloo Yadav, Rabri Devi and others also make it to the highest institutions.

Naturally, the kind of language they know would form part of the debates. People like Prabhunath Singh and Ramdas Athawle are bound to be part of the proceedings. This is not the first time that the standard of debate showed a decline. This has happened in the past too," he said.