ABSTRACT
While India’s lower House of parliament, the Lok Sabha, started as a powerful chamber of debate and policy-making in the Nehru years, it sunk into relative irrelevance during the Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi era due to the prevalence of “kitchen” cabinets that became the real centers of power. While the presence of multiparty coalitions (in place since 1989) increased the visibility of parliamentarians, they also increasingly contributed to the politics of showmanship and theater aimed at television or social media audiences rather than effective parliamentary engagement. The installation of a single-party dominant BJP government since 2014 further diluted the legislative function of the Lok Sabha due to party polarization and the resultant lack of incentives for members to engage and debate opposing parties. This focus on South Asia’s oldest continuous parliament highlights its decline as a result of the factors mentioned above.
