New Delhi: All-party meeting chaired by Defence Minister and deputy leader of the Lok Sabha Rajnath Singh took place on Tuesday in the Parliament premises ahead of the winter session.
Parliamentary affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi, MOS Parliamentary affairs Muralidharan and Arjun Ram Meghwal along with the leader of the house Piyush Goyal attended the meeting on behalf of the government.
Top opposition leaders including Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury from the Congress, Sudip Bandyopadhyay and Derek O’Brien from TMC, Tiruchi Shiva and TR Baalu From DMK, Pashupati Paras from the Lok Jansakti Party, Vandana Chavan from NCP, Dr Farooq Abdullah from National Conference and Binoy Viswam from CPI were some of the leaders present in today’s meeting.
While both Congress, as well as TMC, raised the issue of rampant unemployment, Congress further raised the issue of the hurried-up appointment of the ECI and EWS quota.
Congress raised the issue of price rise and misuse of central agencies by the sitting government. Parties also asked for more time to be given to the Opposition and that their voices should not be muzzled.
The Biju Janata Dal raised the need to have a discussion on the Women Reservation Bill. A number of other parties supported this. There shouldn’t be any politics on issues like the collegium system- there shouldn’t be a difference between the judiciary and executive, asking for a wider discussion on the issue, was another demand of BJD.
Hemant Patil who represented the Shiv Sena faction led by Eknath Shinde has also demanded that the government consider and bring in a bill to regulate population which is a huge challenge for a country like India.
In the meeting, the YSR Congress raised the issue of price rise especially the need to regulate the prices of petrol and diesel.
Harsimrat Kaur Badal who represented the Shiromani Akali Dal in the meeting demanded that action be taken against the crime perpetrating out of Punjab and also a discussion takes place on the Supreme Court observation over the increase in the supply and consumption of drugs. Badal demanded that the committee come to a conclusion and provide MSP to farmers as promised by the Central government.
On part of the government, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said,” The government is ready for discussion and debate on all issues as per the rules and as per the advice of the Chair.”
Several opposition parties including the Congress party said that it was important to consider the festival period before announcing the session dates. Congress Lok Sabha leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said, “We must consider the sentiments of our Christian Brothers and sisters just the way we celebrate Hindu and Muslim festivals. The government should have considered the upcoming Christmas Festival dates before announcing the session dates.”
Replying to the same Parliamentary Affairs Minister Prahlad Joshi said,” We have taken all consideration before announcing the session dates and during Christmas, it is a weekend so Parliament won’t be functioning.”
The Winter Session of Parliament will begin on December 7 and will continue till December 29, having 17 working days in all.