Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Sept 6: The Centre has accused the opposition parties of “politicising the work of Parliament” after the former Congress president Sonia Gandhi on behalf of the “INDIA” alliance partners wrote a letter to the Prime Minister Narrendra Modi questioning convening the special session without consulting the opposition.
Ms Gandhi in her letter had also suggested taking up various opposition-sponsored issues in Parliament for discussion since the government has no specific agenda for the special session from September 18 to 22.
Responding to her letter, the union parliamentary affairs minister Prahlad Joshi said the five-day Special Session of Parliament beginning on September 18 has been called following all rules and regulations and it was “deeply unfortunate” that the Congress was unnecessarily raking up a controversy. The reference was to the complained of Ms Gandhi on the lack of consultations before calling the session. Retorting to this allegation, Joshi said consultations were never done for calling a Parliament session.
The Constitution, he pointed out, only says that the gap between two sessions should not exceed six months. “It is deeply unfortunate that you are politicising the work of our Parliament too and raking up controversy where none exists,” he said.
Accusing Ms Gandhi of not heeding to the existing conventions, he said while the political parties were not consulted for deciding the dates for a session, the leaders are called after the President announces the date to discuss the issues and business that will be taken up during the session, he said.
“We are ready for a debate on every issue. But the issues that you have mentioned have already been discussed during the no-confidence motion debate during the Monsoon Session of Parliament,” he said. The list of business will be notified, he said, at the right time, as per the established practice.
Opposition parties belonging to the Indian National Developmental, Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) had demanded that the Modi government spell out the agenda for the special session and the members would not be sitting in the House only for listening to “Modi Chalisa,” the self-drum beating on government performance.
The Parliamentary Strategy Group of the Congress, which met at Ms Gandhi’s residence on Wednesday, decided that she would ask the government to have a debate on the continuing violence in Manipur, price rise, unemployment, Chinese transgressions among others, during the five-day special session of Parliament. Ms Gandhi’s letter will be on behalf of the 24 Opposition parties that are part of the INDIA bloc, which will take part in the special session.
The Congress meeting was followed by a meeting of the floor leaders of the INDIA parties at the official residence of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, who is also the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, to formulate a common strategy for the session.
“Modi Govt is convening a special session of Parliament for the first time without spelling out the agenda. No one from any Opposition party has been consulted or informed. This is not the way to run a democracy,” Kharge posted on social media platform X, soon after the meeting of floor leaders of INDIA bloc got over. “Everyday Modi Govt plants a story in the media of a prospective ‘agenda’, thereby creating a smokescreen of diversion from real issues burdening the people…,” he added.
Three senior Congress leaders and advocates including P Chidambaram, Salman Khurshid and Abhishek Manu Singhvi are learnt to have briefed the opposition leaders on the legal aspects of the possible moves for simultaneous polls to the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies and change of the country’s nomenclature from India to Bharat.
On the issue of Sanatana Dharma, the Congress decided to stick to its line of sarva dharma sambhava, respecting all religions, said a source. Other issues such as inflation and unemployment, fresh charges against the Adani group, communal violence in Nuh (Haryana), CAG reports, extensive damage caused by the floods in Himachal Pradesh and the North-East also came up as issues that should be taken up in the special session.
There could be a renewed demand for a joint parliamentary committee probe against the Adani Group. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said the Parliamentary bulletin that lists out the agenda merely mentioned “government business” for all five days. “We hope that the Opposition will also get an opportunity to raise their issues which are of concern to the people. Our demand is that there should be discussion on those issues and with this sentiment we would participate in this special session,” he said.