At all-party meet, big push for women quota

Leaders of parties across the political spectrum pushed for the passage of the women’s reservation bill at the all-party meeting called by the Union government on Sunday, a day before Parliament meets for a five-day special session.

Some of the opposition leaders present questioned the timing of the session and the listed agenda and demanded to know if the government had planned to advance the winter session by rescheduling the House sittings.

Union parliamentary affairs minister Pralhad Joshi said 51 leaders from 34 parties were present at the meeting and the session will begin in the existing Parliament building on Monday and thereafter move to the new building from Tuesday.

“On September 19, there will be a photo session in the old Parliament, then at 11am there will be a function in the Central Hall. After that, we will enter the new Parliament. The session will start in the new Parliament on the 19th of September and regular government work will start from the 20th of September,” he said.

According to a government functionary, after a special “function”, in the Cental Hall on Tuesday, which will be addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Speaker Om Birla, leaders of Opposition of both the Houses and the lawmakers will move to the new building that was inaugurated in May.

The Opposition questioned the purpose of the session and said though initially it was stated the five-day session would be a special session, there was no mention of it in the agenda that was circulated. DMK leader Tiruchi Siva said, “The agenda says this is the 13th session of the 17th Lok Sabha and the 261st session of the Rajya Sabha. If this is a normal session then why has the government done away with Zero Hour and Question Hour, depriving members of their right to raise issues.”

The RJD’s Manoj Jha also said special sessions usually have a single-point agenda and the business listed by the government “does not justify the timing of the special session”.

The RJD leader who pushed for passage of the Women’s Reservation Bill, sub-categorisation of quotas, caste census, and demanded a discussion on unemployment and the situation in Manipur, said the government should clarify if there is “more on the agenda than has been declared”.

“There is a sense among the leaders that the government plans to table a bill that has not been discussed or disclosed through the agenda. There seems to be a trust deficit, since in the past too there have been occasions when the government took the opposition by surprise. The seemingly innocuous agenda does not merit a special session, unless the government wants to do away with or reduce the duration of the winter session in view of the assembly polls,” said one party leader not wishing to be identified.

Traditionally, Parliament meets three times every year, for the budget, monsoon and winter sessions. According to the Constitution, the President can summon each House of Parliament to meet from time to time but the gap between two sessions should not be more than six months.

According to the details provided to the leaders, the session will begin on the 18th with a discussion on the parliamentary journey of 75 years starting from Samvidhan Sabha — achievements, experiences, memories and learnings. About 7-8 hours have been allocated for this. On the 19th, there will be group photo sessions for members of the Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha and a joint photo session for MPs of both the Houses and legislative business has been marked for September 20-22.

The government has given out a tentative list of legislative business that will be taken up which includes the Repealing and Amending Bill, 2023, the Post Office Bill, 2023 and the Chief Election Commissioner, Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Bill, 2023, the Advocates (Amendment) Bill, 2023 and the Press and Registration of Periodicals Bill, 2023.

The BJD, which is counted among the BJP’s friendly parties, also demanded the passage of the women’s reservation bill. BJD leader Pinaki Mishra said since the government has limited time for taking up legislative business, it should focus on bringing the bill that seeks 33% reservation for women in state assemblies and Parliament.

The Trinamool Congress said the first day of the session should be set aside for “people issues” such as price rise, unemployment, and outstanding payments to states. The party has also unequivocally demanded a rethink on the CEC Bill, dubbing the provisions as “anti-constitutional, anti-judicial and anti-democratic”.

According to the Bill, the President will ratify the appointments following the recommendation of a selection body consisting of the Prime Minister, LoP, and a cabinet minister who would be nominated by the Prime Minister. The opposition has opposed the provision, and criticised the absence of a Supreme Court judge from the panel. The TMC also backed the demand for the passage of the Women’s Reservation Bill and bringing back MPs who were suspended during the previous session.

Siva also objected to the agenda being circulated only in Hindi and tore up the paper to express his consternation. “Union minister Rajnath Singh assured the member that the agenda will be provided in English as well,” the first person quoted above said.

Siva also complained that several leaders received the invitation for the flag hoisting ceremony late on Friday evening, and proper arrangements were not made for lawmakers.

According to a third leader, leader of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) Ram Mohan Naidu and the YSR Congress leader Vijay Sai Reddy exchanged words at the meeting. “There was a brief exchange between the two over state politics. Naidu raised the issue of the arrest of former CM chandrababu Naidu…,” the leader said.

Vice President and Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar hoisted the national flag at the new Parliament building a day before the commencement of the Special Session of Parliament.