New Delhi: Sonia Gandhi, Chairperson of Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) Wednesday September 06, 2023 sought time to discuss “nine important points concerning general public” during the Special Session of the Parliament.
The Narendra Modi government in New Delhi has called a 5-day Special Session of the Parliament starting from September 18, 2023.
However, the agenda of the special session is unclear, though there are speculations that besides discussion on G20 Summit and India’s successful lunar (Chandaryaan-3) and Solar (Aditya-L1) missions, a number of controversial Bills, including One Nation, One Election, Uniform Civil Code, Women’s Reservation Bill, and also a legislation to change the country’s name from India to Bharat are most likely to be the focus.
The government meanwhile has termed all these speculations wrong but has not come out with the clear-cut agenda of the session.
Amidst this confusion, Sonia Gandhi in a 2-page letter said that the Special Session of the Parliament has been convened without consulting other political parties, and wanted a clarity on the agenda.
“None of us have any idea of its agenda. All we have been communicated is that all five days have been allocated for Government Business”, she wrote.
Writing this, Sonia Gandhi listed nine points and requested the government to allocate time to discuss and debate the issues listed in her letter.
The nine points Sonia raised in her letter are Inflation, unemployment and MSME distress; MSP for farmers and other related issues, JPC for Adani group transactions, Constitutional breakdown in Manipur, rise in communal tension across India, China’s occupation in Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh, Caste Census, strained centre-state relation, and floods, drought and relief efforts.
“I earnestly hope that in a spirit of constructive cooperation, these issues will be taken up in the forthcoming Special Session”, Sonia wrote in her letter addressed to PM Modi.
Commenting on Sonia Gandhi’s letter the Narendra Modi government reminded the grand old party of the Parliamentary tradition and said the agenda will be shared with all the parties at the start of the Special Session.
"The session has been called following tradition. Perhaps you are not paying attention to tradition. Before calling the Parliament session, there is never any discussion with political parties, nor are the issues discussed. After the calling of the session by the President and before commencement of the session, there is a meeting of the leaders of all the parties in which the people rising in the Parliament are discussed. Issues and work are discussed." Pralhad Joshi, Parliamentary Affairs Minister, said.
In a separate letter, Piyush Goyal, Union Minister and Leader of House in Rajya Sabha, accused Sonia Gandhi of “creating hurdles in the works of national importance”.
“Discussions on the issues raised by you in your letter to PM Modi have already been taken place during the debate on no-confidence motion. The government is also ready to discuss in future any issue of national importance”, Goyal said.
“Being the senior most leader of the Congress, it is your duty to take cognizance of the traditions of the temple of democracy and play an active role in the discussion, instead of creating obstacles in the work of national interest”, he added.
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