Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Kiren Rijiju stated that the central government and the opposition parties will hold a debate in both the houses of Parliament to commemorate 75 historic years since the adoption of the Constitution.
The discussions on ‘Constitution at 75’ will be held on December 13-14 in Lok Sabha and December 15-17 in Rajya Sabha. The Constitution of India was adopted on November 26, 1949, and came into effect on January 26,1950.
The Minister expressed mutual agreement between all the parties and expected smooth functioning of the Parliament from Tuesday.
Parliament Logjam
There has been a week-long ruckus as both the houses were repeatedly adjourned with the opposition demanding a discussion on the Adani bribery allegations. The INDIA bloc, including Congress has called for a thorough Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the matter.
In addition, the opposition MPs stalled the parliamentary proceedings over relentless protests over ongoing issues of Manipur conflict, Delhi law and order and Sambhal violence in Uttar Pradesh.
The Lok Sabha functioned for less than an hour whereas the Rajya Sabha for about 75 minutes in the first week of winter session.
The winter session of Parliament commenced on November 25 and will go on till December 20.
Joint Meeting convened by LS speaker Om Birla
In an attempt to end the ongoing stalemate during the winter session of Parliament, Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla held an all-party meeting on Monday (December 2).
Union Minister Rijiju post the meeting told the reporters, that the speaker called for the smooth functioning of the government. He further said that there are rules that need to be followed to raise an issue, upholding proper decorum of the house.
An official present in the meeting said that the LS speaker urged the leaders to raise “people’s issues”. Through frequent disruptions and unsmooth functioning, the opposition is allowing the government to escape parliamentary scrutiny, which is disapproved by the people. He further cited wastage of money as the Question hours are disrupted.
The meeting was attended by all-party floor leaders including, Gaurav Gogoi from Indian National Congress (INC), Kalyan Banerjee from All India Trinamool Congress (AITC/TMC), Abhay Kushwaha from Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Lavu Sri Krishna Devarayalu from Telugu Desam Party (TDP), T R Baalu from Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), Supriya Sule from Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Dharmendra Yadav from Samajwadi Party (SP), Dileshwar Kamait from Janata Dal (United) [JD(U)], , Arvind Sawant from Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) [Shiv Sena (UBT)], and K Radhakrisnan from Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)].
Consensus over debate
Gaurav Gogoi, deputy leader of the Congress in the lower house, said that the opposition is looking forward to the discussion, awaiting a formal bulletin by the government.
The TMC MPs are expected to raise the issue of minority atrocities, particularly Hindus in Bangladesh.
Two Bills are expected to be tabled in the Lok Sabha today- The Banking Laws (Amendment) Bill and The Railways (Amendment) Bill.
