The Debate Series

A leader is many a times judged by the way he puts forward his thoughts in a subtle manner, his ability to listen to others, his responsiveness to think from a different perspective and the refinement he does to his thoughts by incorporating the best from others. What can be the best arena, other than debate, to develop this basic quality any leader should have.

As a part of nurturing future leaders, CONSIG, the Consulting club of SJMSoM, has taken up the initiative to revive the debating culture of our college. The debate series has been started with a brief up on the two basic types of parliamentary debating and the key players in each of the debating types.

The compositions of both parliamentary types are briefly described below for the debate novice.

Asian parliamentary type – This type of debate is contested between two teams with 3 members each, with one team being proposition/government and other one being opposition. The proposition is comprised of Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister and a Government Whip. The Opposition is comprised of the Opposition Leader, Deputy Opposition Leader and an Opposition Whip.

British parliamentary type – This type of debate is contested between four teams with 2 members each, with two teams forming proposition/government and other two forming opposition. The proposition and opposition would have a closing group and opening group. The proposition opening government is comprised of Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister and proposition closing government is comprised of a Member government and Government Whip. The opposition opening is comprised of Opposition Leader, Deputy Opposition Leader and opposition closing is comprised of a Member Opposition and an Opposition Whip.

With the tone set for the future debating culture at SJMSoM, ball has been set for the roll to create an everlasting snowball effect on the destined leaders.

by, Harsha Gollapinni

Member, CONSIG Club, SJMSoM