Mr. Panda was speaking at the second India Ideas Conclave organised by the India Foundation here.

During a session on “new politics,” Mr. Panda said very often legislative business ran aground at the Upper House. Constitutionally that could be considered as “part of the checks and balances in the system, but the unelected cannot be allowed to have a veto.” Mr. Panda’s views echoed that of Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who also termed the Upper House “unelected” and rued the powers of the Rajya Sabha to block legislation, apart from money Bills.

The constituents of the erstwhile UPA hold sway in the Upper House and have often come together to block the government’s plans for legislation.

In the second part of the Budget session, the Opposition had attacked the government for turning ordinary Bills into money Bills to circumvent the Rajya Sabha (the RS cannot overturn the Lok Sabha on money bills). Mr. Panda’s party, the BJD, had not allied either with the NDA or the erstwhile UPA, but supported the government on crucial Bills and issues.

Mr. Panda also wanted the authority of a political party to issue a whip on every legislation to be diluted. “The power to issue a whip should be restricted to money Bills, or a confidence vote in Parliament; on other issues, legislators should be allowed to vote according to their conscience,” he said.