At all-party meeting, Opposition calls for debate on SIR; govt seeks smooth Parliament working

The winter session of Parliament, which is all set to commence on Monday, is likely to witness protests by the Opposition, with several parties uniting on the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR), national security and other issues. On its part, the government on Sunday appealed to parties to allow smooth functioning of Parliament.At an all-party meeting convened by the government on Sunday, the Congress-led Opposition set the tone for the upcoming session, as it demanded a discussion on the SIR and national security in the aftermath of the Delhi bomb blast on November 10.

Opposition members sought the Centre's response on various issues, including the impact of air pollution in Delhi, the Life Insurance Corporation's "investment" in the Adani Group, new labour codes and the impact of US tariffs.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said, “Parliament should not be stalled and it should function smoothly. The government will keep holding discussions with all parties to ensure smooth functioning of the House.” On the Opposition's demand for a discussion on the SIR, Rijiju is learnt to have informed the Opposition that the Business Advisory Committee's (BAC) meeting of the Lok Sabha would take a call on the issue. However, there was no clarity on the matter.

During the BAC meeting of the Rajya Sabha, a suggestion on holding a discussion on commemorating the 150th year of Vande Mataram was made by one of the NDA's alliance partners.

The winter session is scheduled to be held from December 1 to December 19, with a total of 15 sittings.

The government has listed two Bills for consideration and passing, and 10 Bills for introduction, consideration and passing. The first batch of supplementary demands for grants for 2025-26 will also be presented, discussed and voted upon.

Some of the key Bills listed are the Corporate Laws (Amendment) Bill, Securities Markets Code Bill, Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill, Atomic Energy Bill, National Highways (Amendment) Bill and Higher Education Commission of India Bill.

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh called the meeting a mere formality. "This session of 15 days will be the shortest in parliamentary history. The Modi government has listed 13 Bills for passage. Of these, one replaces an ordinance and two have gone through a committee of the Lok Sabha. So 10 Bills have not been examined by the standing committee concerned,” Ramesh, who attended the meeting, posted on X.

Congress MP and deputy leader in the Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi alleged that the government was looking to finish off India's democracy and parliamentary traditions. Samajwadi Party leader Ram Gopal Yadav warned that the Lok Sabha would not be allowed to function if there was no discussion on the SIR.

Trinamool Congress’ Kalyan Banerjee alleged that 40 people had lost their lives during the conduct of the SIR.

As many as 50 leaders of 36 parties attended the meeting.

Besides Rijiju, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, BJP president and Union minister JP Nadda, ministers Arjun Ram Meghwal and L Murugan attended the meeting.