A view of the new Parliament building in New Delhi.
Credit: PTI Photo
The agenda for the five-day Special Session for Parliament starting September 18 was unveiled on Wednesday night, with the government listing a discussion on the Parliamentary journey of the past 75 years and the passage of five Bills in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, which includes the controversial bill on the appointment of Chief Election Commissioner and other Commissioners.
The agenda was published in the bulletins of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. The documents stated that on the first day, there will be a discussion in both the Houses on ‘Parliamentary Journey of 75 years starting from Samvidhan Sabha – Achievements, Experiences, Memories and Learnings’.
The tentative legislative business for Lok Sabha showed the passage of four Bills, including Advocates (Amendment) Bill and The Press and Registration of Periodicals Bill. The bills listed for passing should not be taken as exhaustive, the bulletin said.
It has also listed the passage of the controversial Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Bill, and The Post Office Bill in Lok Sabha after its passage in Rajya Sabha during the special session.
The Rajya Sabha is also slated to pass the Repealing and Amending Bill, which was already passed by Lok Sabha and pending in the Upper House.
Congress General Secretary (Communications) Jairam Ramesh posted on X soon after the agenda was published, "Finally, after pressure from Sonia Gandhi's letter to the Prime Minister, the Modi Govt has condescended to announce the agenda for the special 5-day session of Parliament beginning September 18th."
"The agenda as published at the moment, is much ado about nothing — all this could have waited till Winter session in November. I am sure the legislative grenades are being kept up their sleeves to be unleashed at the last moment as usual. Parde ke peeche kuch aur hai! Regardless, the I.N.D.I.A parties will steadfastly oppose the insidious CEC Bill, " he said.
There was speculation about bringing the women’s reservation bill or a new quota regime for OBCs through sub-categorisation but the government has not listed either for discussion.
The session is also likely to see the proceedings of Parliament moving from the old building to the new Parliament building on September 19, though there has been no official announcement in this regard.
The publication of the agenda came hours after Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi announced the convening of an all-party meeting. “Ahead of the parliament session from the 18th of this month, an all-party floor leaders meeting has been convened on the 17th at 4.30 PM. The invitation for the same has been sent to concerned leaders through email,” he posted on X.
With no agenda in place during the day, the Opposition had attacked the government, with Congress General Secretary (Communications) Jairam Ramesh posting on X, “The five-day Special Session of Parliament will commence five days from now and nobody—barring One Man(ok, perhaps the Other One too)—has any sense of the agenda. On every previous occasion, when Special Sessions or Special Sittings were held, the list of business was known in advance.”