At the all-party meeting on Saturday ahead of session beginning on Monday, the government urged the opposition to ensure a conducive environment for discussions in the House.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh presided over the meeting of floor leaders of various parties, attended by parliamentary affairs minister Pralhad Joshi, Congress leaders Jairam Ramesh, Gaurav Gogoi and Pramod Tewari, TMC leaders Sudip Bandyopadhyay and Derek O’Brien and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Fouzia Khan, among others.
The results of the assembly elections in four states — Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Telangana — on Sunday are expected to heat up the political atmosphere further, with just months to go for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
The report of the Lok Sabha Ethics Committee “recommending” expulsion of Moitra from the House is listed for tabling in the House on Monday, the first day of the session which will last till December 22.
After the meeting, Tewari said the opposition also insisted on a discussion in Parliament on issues such as the situation in Manipur, rising inflation, unemployment, “misuse” of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and CBI, “imposition” of Hindi through the names of laws, particularly in reference to the three bills to replace IPC, CrPC and the Indian Evidence Act.
“We are ready for a discussion on any issue. But when you seek a short-duration discussion, you also have to ensure an atmosphere conducive for a debate in the House,” Joshi told reporters.
Sources said the TMC leaders spoke against “bulldozing” with three major bills to amend IPC, CrPC and the Evidence Act in the winter session.
They also accused the government of reducing all-party meetings to a “waste of time”, alleging that opposition parties were not being informed at these meetings about bills being brought in the House.
Shiv Sena leader Rahul Shewale said the House should discuss the issue of reservation for the Maratha and Dhangar communities, which were a subject of a hot debate in Maharashtra.
