New Delhi, Sep 17 : The government held an all-party meeting of the floor leaders in New Delhi today, ahead of a special session of parliament, which will begin on Monday.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, the deputy leader of the House in Lok Sabha; Union Minister Piyush Goyal, the leader of the House in Rajya Sabha; and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi represented the government in the meeting.
Several leaders of opposition parties including Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah, TMC leader Derek O’Brien, Aam Aadmi Party leader Sanjay Singh, Samajwadi Party leader Ram Gopal Yadav and RJD leader Manoj Kumar Jha are among the leaders who were present in the meeting.
During the meeting several opposition parties made a strong pitch for the passage of the Women’s Reservation Bill during the session.
The bill seeks to reserve one-third of all seats for women in Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies.
Praful Patel, the Nationalist Congress Party leader and Bharatiya Janata Party-ally in Maharashtra said the party has appealed to the government to pass the women’s reservation bill in this Parliament session. “Parliament will shift to the new building on the auspicious occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi on September 19,” Patel.
Addressing the media after the meeting, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said that 51 leaders of 34 parties participated in the meeting.
On the parties’ demand for the Women Reservation Bill, Union minister Pralhad Joshi said the decision will be taken at an “appropriate time”.
He said the session will start in the existing building tomorrow and it will be shifted to the new building on Tuesday.
He said that the regular business in this special session will start on Wednesday. Joshi added during the meeting the government has sought the cooperation of parties to run the session smoothly.
The five-day special session of Parliament will begin with a discussion on the Parliamentary Journey of 75 years starting from the Samvidhan Sabha of its Achievements, Experiences, Memories, and Learnings. During the entire day, there will be discussions in both houses separately.
On Tuesday, there will be a photo session in the parliament building, including a function at the center hall on completing 75 years of independence. After that, the session of both houses will be shifted to the new parliament building, coinciding with the Ganesh Chaturthi.
From Wednesday the regular business will take place in the new parliament building. There are a total of eight Bills that will be taken up in this special session of Parliament, including 4 bills, which have already been listed.
These four bills are the Appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner, and Other Election Commissioners to be taken up for consideration and passage. The other listed business for Lok Sabha includes ‘The Advocates (Amendment) Bill, 2023’ and ‘The Press and Registration of Periodicals Bill, 2023’, already passed by Rajya Sabha. Besides, ‘The Post Office Bill, 2023’ has also been listed in the Lok Sabha business.
