All-party Meet Held Ahead of Last Parliament Session Before 2024 LS Polls; Centre Seeks Cooperation

An all-party meeting of floor leaders in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha took place at the Parliament Library building on Saturday. The meeting was convened by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi to discuss the order of business and agenda ahead of the Winter Session of the Parliament.

The meeting was attended by most MPs including senior BJP leaders like Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal.

Senior BJP leader Arjun Ram Meghwal, Congress MP Jairam Ramesh, and Congress MP Pramod Tiwari were also in attendance. The Winter Session is scheduled to have 15 sittings until December 22.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said that the meeting was attended by 23 political parties and chaired by Union Minister Rajnath Singh.

The minister said that several suggestions were received, including demands for zero hours, and smooth functioning of the parliament activities during the Winter Session of Parliament.

“Last time when the opposition wanted a discussion on Manipur, we were ready. We told this many times that we are ready but there is a proper procedure for it. This is the last session, and we are fully ready for structured debate,” Joshi said.

All party leaders discussed key draft legislations, including three bills to replace the colonial era criminal laws.

According to Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi, a total of 19 bills are listed for consideration and passing, while two financial bills will be discussed.

The government also planned to present the first batch of Supplementary Demands for Grants for the year 2023-24.

The report of the Ethics Committee on the “cash-for-query” allegations against Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra will also be tabled in Lok Sabha during the session.

The House will have to adopt the report before the expulsion recommended by the panel comes into effect.

Another key bill pending in Parliament relates to the appointment of the chief election commissioner and election commissioners.

The said bill was introduced in the Monsoon session but the government had not pushed for its passage in the special session of Parliament amid protests from the opposition and former chief election commissioners as it seeks to bring on a par the status of the CEC and ECs with that of the cabinet secretary.

(With PTI inputs)