Parliament session: Battle lines drawn, all-party meeting today

Tribune News Service

Aditi Tandon

New Delhi, September 16

Amid the escalating row over Sanatan Dharma, the government will hold an all-party meeting on Sunday to discuss the agenda and issues to be taken up at the special session of Parliament from September 18 to 22.

On agenda for parl special session

• The govt's declared agenda includes a discussion on 75 years of Parliament journey
• Congress, DMK to press for bread and butter issues
• Congress may demand discussion on Manipur, Nuh riots, inflation, unemployment

Ahead of the crucial meeting, battle lines were clearly drawn with the Congress and DMK — both prominent parties of the anti-BJP INDIA bloc — hammering bread and butter issues for the upcoming session and vowing “not to get distracted by government narratives.” “As we approach the special parliamentary session from September 18, it is time to unite and make a resounding impact. Our mission is clear: Do not be swayed by diversion tactics of the BJP. Stand strong, raise your voices and prioritise pressing issues like Manipur violence and the flagged irregularities in the CAG report in unison with our INDIA allies. Together, we can defeat the conspiracies of the BJP and ensure justice for our great republic,” DMK chief and Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin said just a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi attacked INDIA group for “abusing and pledging to destroy Sanatan Dharma”. DMK scion Udhayanidhi Stalin had recently compared Sanatan Dharma to “malaria and Covid”.

While the government today said it was ready to debate anything, its declared tentative agenda for the special session includes a discussion on 75 years of Parliament journey starting from the Constituent Assembly debates where speakers had discussed the name for the newly born nation and decided to call it “India, that is Bharat.”

The government has begun to call India Bharat in some official communications and may formalise the name change in the upcoming session, some sources believe.

A major issue of sparring will be the proposed legislation to exclude the CJI from the panel to select the Chief Election Commissioners and ECs and downgrade the service conditions of poll officials.

The Congress, meanwhile, said today that the “fire of hate” was spreading from Manipur to Nuh with repercussions in Rajasthan, Delhi and UP.

“Manipur violence is still ongoing. Manipur fire has spread right up to Nuh in Haryana. The violence in Nuh has resonated in Delhi, UP and Rajasthan. These incidents undermine the modern, progressive and secular image of the country and we have to continue to expose those fanning this hate,” Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge said at the party’s working committee meet in Hyderabad today. He also flagged rising inflation, unemployment as key issues and questioned government data sets, setting the stage for a stormy special session which will take up The CEC and EC Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office Bill 2023; The Post Office Bill 2023; The Repealing and Amending Bill 2023 among two others.

#Sanatan Dharma