Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Speaker Om Birla may wax eloquent about the "historic" 17th Lok Sabha and its high "productivity", but the intense fears about diminishing democratic freedoms and parliamentary dignity witnessed during its tenure were unprecedented in the last seven decades.

The 17th Lok Sabha, adjourned sine die on Saturday, not only achieved the questionable distinction of doing without a Deputy Speaker through its five-year term, it witnessed ceaseless disruptions, the suspension of record numbers of Opposition MPs, the fewest sittings or discussions on key issues, and the disqualification of the most formidable Opposition member.

Article 93 of the Constitution says: "The House of the People (Lok Sabha) shall, as soon as may be, choose two members of the House to be respectively Speaker and Deputy Speaker thereof and, so often as the office of Speaker or Deputy Speaker becomes vacant, the House shall choose another member to be Speaker or Deputy Speaker, as the case may be."

There was no valid reason for the Narendra Modi government to prevent the election of a Deputy Speaker except that it did not want to follow the tradition of allowing an Opposition leader to occupy the post.

Apart from that constitutional oddity, the 17th Lok Sabha had only 274 sittings, which comes to less than 55 days a year. Till the 1970s, the Lok Sabha met for an average of 121 days a year, a figure that fell to 68 days after 2000.

While the Covid-19 pandemic did affect the functioning of Parliament this term, there was a decline by every parameter. According to the non-profit PRS Legislative Research, 35 per cent of the bills were passed with less than an hour’s discussion.

While the 14th Lok Sabha referred 60 per cent of bills to parliamentary committees for detailed scrutiny, the figure jumped to 71 per cent in the 15th. The 16th Lok Sabha, which saw Modi as Prime Minister, sent only 28 per cent bills to House committees while the 17th sent only 16 per cent.

No adjournment motion was accepted in the last five years; and almost 80 per cent of budget proposals were passed without discussion.

The outgoing Lok Sabha will be remembered for yet another unique event: the Opposition was compelled to bring in a no-confidence motion only to force the Prime Minister to make a statement on the Manipur strife.

However, the Opposition failed to ensure debates on the Adani controversy and the Chinese intrusion despite long-drawn turmoil in both Houses.

While protests and repeated disruptions continued in almost every session on issues such as the Chinese incursion, price rise, unemployment and the Adani group’s affairs, only 13 short-duration discussions were allowed in five years.

The Opposition protesting in black clothes, demonstrating on Parliament premises, and getting detained for holding marches outside became routine.

The presiding officers of both Houses took the extraordinary step of expunging almost entire speeches by Congress members Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge because they had alleged a nexus between Modi and Adani.

There were a scarcely believable 206 instances of the suspension of Opposition members in the last five years across both Houses. In the last winter session, 146 members were suspended for creating a din while demanding debates on various subjects.

Members held nightlong protests on the Parliament lawn for days together after getting suspended.

While Rahul was disqualified because of a conviction in a defamation case, Trinamul member Mahua Moitra lost her membership on a complaint from a ruling party MP that she had allowed outsiders to influence the questions she asked in the House.

While Modi hailed the 17th Lok Sabha for passing bills such as the one abrogating Article 370, the House also witnessed the more grotesque aspects of lawmaking — three farm laws passed by Parliament had to be repealed because of a yearlong protest by farmers.

The outgoing Lok Sabha also had the distinction of passing the women’s reservation bill in a form that keeps everyone guessing about when it would come into force.

While bills replacing the Indian Penal Code and the Criminal Code of Procedure were passed in the absence of the Opposition, a bill overriding a Supreme Court verdict to give the Chief Justice of India a say in the appointment of the chief election commissioner attracted wide condemnation.

Other laws like the UAPA (Amendment) Bill and Citizenship (Amendment) Bill evoked criticism and countrywide protests.

The 17th Lok Sabha lived under the mortal fear of diminishing democracy, with a large number of politicians and political observers airing concerns about the possible fate of constitutional rule during the 18th.