"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," stated a letter by Congress leader Sonia Gandhi to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, pointing out that no agenda has been disclosed for the special session of the Parliament called by the government from 18-22 September.
Gandhi, who is the chairperson of Congress' Parliamentary Committee, also said, "the Special Session has been convened without any consultation with other political parties."
"We most certainly want to participate in the Special Session because it will give us an opportunity to raise matters of public concern and importance," the letter stated.
She further listed some points on which the party demands a discussion and debate on. That are:
Increasing price of essential commodities, growing unemployment, etc
MSP assurance and other demands raised by farmers
Demand for a JPC to investigate the transactions of the Adani business group in light of all revelations
Discussion on violence in Manipur and communal tensions in Haryana
Continued occupation of Indian Territory by China
Urgent need for a Caste Census
Damages being inflicted on Centre-State relegations
Impact of natural disasters caused by floods in some states and draught in others.
- 01/02
- 02/02
'You Are Not Paying Attention': Pralhad Joshi
Responding to Gandhi's allegation about no parties were consulted about the session, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said "It is deeply unfortunate that you are politicising the work of our Parliament and when there is no controversy, you are unnecessarily raking it up."
"The session has been called following the laid down rules and regulations... perhaps you are not paying attention to the conventions. Before calling a session, consultations are never done with other political parties and nor do we discuss the issues. We do call leaders of all parties after the President announces the date for the new session for a meeting in which we discuss the issues and business that will taken up during the session."Pralhad Joshi, Parliamentary Affairs Minister
While talking about the list of issues, Joshi 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.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)