The Opposition parties on Saturday set the stage for a stormy Monsoon Session that commences on July 18 as a majority of them skipped the customary all-party meeting called by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla.
None from the TMC, NCP, Samajwadi Party, BSP, BJD, CPM, JMM, TRS, TDP, Akali Dal and other parties attended the meeting.
The Trinamool Congress has said it would also boycott the customary all party meeting convened by the Vice President on Sunday. However, a separate meeting convened by the Opposition parties to discuss the strategy for Monsoon Session and deciding on the Vice Presidential candidate is likely to be in full attendance on Sunday.
The Government has also called an all-party meeting on Sunday when Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to attend. If the Opposition will boycott this meeting or not is not known though.
The invite has also been extended to Telangana Chief Minister and the head of Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) K Chandrashekhar Rao who during the last one day have reached out to all non-BJP and non-Congress party leaders to galvanise his own political force.
The Opposition meeting is likely to be litmus test of their unity after parties like JMM, Shiv Sena broke ranks to support the NDA nomination Draupadi Murmu in the Presidential polls.
The meeting with the Speaker came against the backdrop of the recent rousing controversies over the list of 'unparliamentary words' and alleged 'banning of protests' in Parliament precincts.
The Opposition demanded a discussion on the short four-year 'Agnipath' military recruitment scheme, unemployment and farmers' issues and sufficient time be given to it to raise these issues, Congress leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said after the meeting.
The first day of the monsoon session will see voting for the presidential election.
Besides Chowdhury, DMK MP TR Balu, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi, BJP MP Arjun Ram Meghwal, YSRCP MP PV Mithunreddy, RLJP MP Pashupati Kumar Paras and other parliamentarians from other parties attended the meeting called by the Speaker.
Some of the bills that are in the pending list include The Indian Antarctica Bill, 2022. The bill is pending in the Lok Sabha. The Weapons of Mass Destruction and their Delivery Systems (Prohibition of Unlawful Activities) Amendment Bill, 2022 was passed by Lok Sabha and is yet to be passed by Rajya Sabha. The Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Bill, 2021 is pending in Lok Sabha, The Anti-Maritime Piracy Bill, 2019 and The National Anti-Doping Bill, 2021 are also pending in Lok Sabha.
The Constitution (Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes) Orders (Second Amendment) Bill, 2022 (in respect of State of UP - amendment regarding change of district name to be approved by Cabinet) was introduced in Lok Sabha in March 2022.
The new bills to be newly introduced in the Parliament during the Monsoon session include The Central Universities Amendment Bill, 2022.
After the meeting, Birla said he appealed to all party leaders to hold discussions on key issues currently facing us in the interest of the country. "There will be 18 sittings and a total time of 108 hours will be available to house members. 62 hours have been allotted for government business during the session," Birla said and informed that the timing of submission of notice for raising matters during Zero Hour has been changed.
Now Members can give notices from 0900 hours of a given day to 0800 hours of the Session day on which the members desire to raise their matters in the House during Zero Hour. Notices for Monday or the first working day of the week may be given between 0900 a.m. on Friday or the last working day of the previous week and 0800 a.m. on Monday or the first working day of that week.