Parliament's Winter Session to start today, govt seeks smooth functioning of both houses

New Delhi, Nov 25 : The Parliament's Winter Session will start today with the government appealing to all the parties to ensure smooth conduct of business in both houses while representatives of 30 parties have highlighted several issues for inclusion in the agenda in the nearly-month-long proceedings.

Meanwhile, in a bid to strengthen their collective voice and coordinate their actions in the upcoming Parliament session, the floor leaders of INDIA bloc parties are scheduled to meet at the Parliament House office of Congress President and Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge at 10 a.m. on Monday.

According to sources, the interaction in the meeting of opposition leaders will be aimed at formulating a unified strategy. Opposition parties, including the Congress, the CPI, the CPI-M, the Trinamool Congress, the AAP, the DMK, the Shiv Sena-UBT, the NCP-SP and others, have consistently sought to challenge the Central government’s policies and agenda in Parliament. With several key issues on the agenda, from economic issues to social justice, the bloc leaders are set to discuss their collective strategy to ensure that there is no sign of disunity.

Amid expectations of a stormy session, veteran BJP leader and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh chaired an all-party meeting with 42 leaders and floor managers from various parties on Sunday.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, who described the meeting as “fruitful", sought cooperation from all parties. "The government is open to discussing all issues, but our only request is to ensure a smooth conduct of proceedings," he said.

"We have taken note of the suggestions regarding issues for discussion made by floor managers of parties and would share them with the Lok Sabha Speaker and Rajya Sabha Chairman," he said, adding that the business advisory committees of both Houses would finalise the agenda with the consent of the presiding officers.

The legislative agenda of the session will include the celebration of 75 years of the Constitution on November 26, Rijiju said, adding that key documents related to the making of the statute would also be released in the presence of President Droupadi Murmu.

He hinted that at least 17 bills are likely to come up for discussion during the session.

The Waqf (Amendment) Bill, pending in Lok Sabha, has also been listed for consideration and passage after a report of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) is submitted in the lower house.

In all, eight bills are pending in Lok Sabha and two in Rajya Sabha.

The developments during the Winter Session, beginning within two days of the declaration of Assembly election results in Maharashtra and Jharkhand, are also likely to reflect the contrasting moods in the ruling NDA and the opposition INDIA bloc after the former won in the western state and the latter retained power in the eastern state.

The Winter Session is scheduled to be held from November 25 to December 20.