Winter session of Parliament anticipated to begin on a stormy note on Monday at the backdrop of latest controversy around Adani Group with the Opposition ready to flex it muscles, is now likely to be dampened after BJP’s morale booster Assembly results in Maharashtra, by-polls of Uttar Pradesh and last month’s Harayana success to its kitty.
The Opposition on Sunday asked the Centre to allow discussions in the Parliament on the US prosecutors’ bribery charges against the Adani Group even as Union minister Kiren Rijiju made it clear that the matters to be taken up in the two houses will be decided by their authorised committees with the consent of the respective chair.
Following the customary all-party meeting on the eve of the Parliament’s Winter Session commencing Monday, Rijiju told reporters that the government has appealed to all the parties to ensure smooth conduct of business in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.
Forty-two leaders from 30 parties attended the meeting, which was chaired by senior BJP leader and Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. The meeting was attended by BJP President JP Nadda, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, DMK’s Tiruchi Siva, Akali Dal’s Harsimrat Kaur Badal and LJP (Ram Vilas) MP Arun Bharti, among others.
The government has listed 16 bills for consideration in the Winter Session. The bills pending in the Lok Sabha include the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, which has been listed for consideration and passage after a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) of the two houses submits its report on it to the lower house. The panel is mandated to submit its report on the last day of the first week of the winter session.
On the Congress party’s demand to hold discussions on the Adani issue on priority, apart from a host of other matters, including the Manipur unrest, Rijiju said the business advisory committees of the two houses will take a call on the subjects of Parliamentary business with the consent of the Speaker of the Lok Sabha and the Chairperson of the Rajya Sabha.
Raising the matter at the meeting, Congress’ deputy leader in the Lok Sabha, Gaurav Gogoi, dubbed the Adani issue as a scam, saying the government should not reject or ignore their demand on any technicality as it concerns Indian institutions and investors.
Billionaire industrialist Gautam Adani, whose conglomerate includes a host of companies covering power to ports sectors, has been charged by US prosecutors for allegedly being part of a scheme to pay USD 265 million (about Rs 2,200 crore) bribe to Indian officials in exchange of favourable terms for solar power contracts in four Indian states.
Congress leader Pramod Tiwari also said the government should set aside other businesses to take up a discussion on the issue on priority.
Raising the issue of violence in Manipur, Gogoi said the ruling dispensation jailed the Jharkhand chief minister (Hemant Soren) and made changes in Jammu and Kashmir for a variety of reasons, but kept its faith in Chief Minister of Manipur N Biren Singh, despite his alleged involvement in violence. The matter must be debated in the Parliament, he said.
The Winter Session is scheduled to be held from November 25 to December 20. At the meeting, two BJP allies from Adnhra Pradesh — Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Jana Sena Party (JSP) — raised the issue of pending implementation of the promises made during the division of the state in 2014 under the Andhra Pradesh Reorganiation Act, saying the Parliament should know their present status.
“We want the government to put the status on record,” TDP leader Lavu Sri Krishna Devarayalu said, noting that while some promises have been fulfilled and some are being taken up, a few still remain unfulfilled. Jana Sena leader Balashowry Vallabhaneni spoke on similar lines.
DMK asked the Centre to withdraw the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, which the government is keen to table in the session despite opposition by several Muslim organisations.
The Opposition members in the Waqf panel are demanding an extension in the timeline to submit its report accusing the JPC Chairman and BJP MP Jagdambika Pal of bulldozing the committee’s meetings, the opposition members sought the intervention of Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla.
Commenting on the matter, Rijiju said there is a provision to extend the tenure of the JPC but as of now, there have been no discussions on it. He also underlined that the business advisory committee of the Lok Sabha is the right platform to discuss the issue of extending the JPC’s timeline.
As many as eight bills, including the Waqf (Amendment) Bill and the Mussalman Wakf (Repeal) Bill, are pending in the Lok Sabha. According to a Lok Sabha bulletin, two bills are pending with the Rajya Sabha.
A Rajya Sabha bulletin said an additional bill -- The Bharatiya Vayuyan Vidheyak -- passed by the Lok Sabha is pending with the Upper House. A set of proposed bills to implement simultaneous elections in the country are not part of the list yet, though some reports suggested that the government is likely to bring the proposed legislation in the coming session.
