All-party meet sets stage as Opposition flags key issues

A meeting with the participation of all parties was held at the Parliament House Complex on Sunday to discuss preparations for the Winter Session of Parliament. The meeting, chaired by Defense Minister Rajnath Singh, was attended by 50 leaders from 36 political parties, including many Union Ministers, to ensure a constructive and productive session. As announced by Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, the winter session of Parliament will take place on Monday, December 1, and will continue till December 19.

Opposition MPs decided to raise several issues including the ongoing SIR, equality, income, Delhi blast, pollution and foreign policy-related debates. RJD leader MP Manoj Kumar told ANI: “Most political debates, even during elections, are fictional and the fundamental issues of the people are ignored. The mainstream media is largely responsible for this. I hope the government will think beyond elections. Aren’t income and equality the issues to be discussed? If we talk about India’s GDP growth story and see that it is not reflected in daily life, shouldn’t we discuss it?” “If we talk about people’s concerns about SIR, then look, if we had not appealed to the Supreme Court, the relief that the public received with the documents would not have been possible. These need to be discussed in detail, otherwise the Parliament will remain a structure like a museum,” he said.

Congress MP Pramod Tiwari said, “SIR was carried out in the entire state in a very short time, which is impossible. There were explosions in the capital. Prime Minister Modi’s foreign policies are completely lost. Also, air pollution in Delhi and other states needs to be discussed in detail. Today, we have a strategic meeting at 18:00, the Business Advisory Committee meeting is held at 16:00. Let’s see what is on the agenda of the BJP.” Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi told ANI: “I hope the next session will be productive. Important issues of the country will be discussed. I know the ruling side has an agenda, but the opposition also has an agenda. As you can see, during the SIR, many BLOs were working under pressure and many lost their lives… The process turned out to be inhumane and insensitive, raising many questions. Statements about Aaditya have also emerged. Thackeray’s speech in Mumbai constituency Referring to alleged vote theft, Karantaka and Haryana, he raised various issues. These are all issues that the opposition has issues with and I hope we will address these too in the hope that the Central government retains the Parliament, if we are working smoothly,” he said.

CPI MP P Sandosh Kumar told ANI: “The session starts tomorrow. We will have a formal debate today and express our views, but the ruling party will not agree to anything. They must have prepared a list of bills and will also come up with new agendas. Last time there were some proposed bills in the list, but on the penultimate day they brought a new constitutional amendment. I do not have much faith in this meeting, but we will all attend and register our views. As for my party CPI, Election on this issue “We will demand that the functioning of the commission be discussed.” “The Election Commission is a constitutional authority, but the parliament also has the right to discuss its functioning. Why is it necessary? The Election Commission does not accept proposals from political parties. Registered political parties are an integral part of the system. Therefore, the Election Commission must understand and take into account their views. However, the Election Commission consciously holds ritual meetings and rejects any proposals, especially from opposition parties. So why is this? Let’s say, why is it about electoral reforms? Can’t they get the opinions of the opposition parties? We come with our notes, we make suggestions, we express our views, but they decide on their own.” “They remain loyal. Many issues related to the functioning of the Election Commission will be discussed in Parliament.”

Congress leader and MP Tanuj Punia told ANI: “All our issues are for the benefit of the people. Our efforts are always to highlight the issues of the people. Our respected leader Rahul Gandhi is always outspoken on public issues. Our biggest concern now is that fake voters are added during SIR while real voters are removed. We will raise the questions that arise about the entire SIR process. So SIR will be the main issue.” Meanwhile, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju maintained that the government is fully prepared to address the opposition’s concerns even as some leaders warned that it would create turmoil in Parliament over the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in electoral rolls during the winter session.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting attended by all parties today, Rijiju stated that the government was ready to address the issue, emphasized that Parliament “belongs to everyone” and called on all parties to protect the sanctity of parliamentary debates. The Union Minister said, “No one said that the Parliament will not function or will not allow it to function. Some leaders have said that they may create turmoil in the Parliament on the SIR issue. I am saying this in a positive manner, we are ready to listen to the opposition… The Parliament belongs to everyone, it belongs to the country. There is a method of discussing every issue in the Parliament. There are rules, there are conventions.” At the all-party meeting, Rijiju described the meeting attended by 50 leaders from 36 political parties as “very good and very productive” and assured that all suggestions would be forwarded to the Business Advisory Committees of both Houses.

Stating that differences between democracies are natural but should not turn into disruptions, he called for cooperation during debates in both houses. Rijiju said, “The meeting was very good and very productive. I thank the leaders of all the political parties. Everyone participated and presented their party’s views. Today, we will consider all the suggestions from the grassroots leaders of the political parties and submit them to the Business Advisory Committee. 36 political parties and 50 leaders attended this meeting. On behalf of the government, I can assure you that we will continue to engage with the opposition in this way to ensure the smooth functioning of the Winter Session of the Parliament.” “I also ask the opposition party leaders to cooperate for the smooth functioning of the Parliament. There are deadlocks in democracies, especially in parliamentary democracies. There are differences between political parties. Everyone has to work with their own ideology and agenda, so there will be differences. Despite these differences, if we all decide not to disturb the Parliament, whatever opposition we want to raise, we should do so by speaking in the Parliament. We should not disrupt the Parliament in any way. Parliamentary proceedings must continue.”

Today, the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) of the Lok Sabha devoted time to discussing various important bills and debates for the Winter Session. The government has listed 13 bills for the session, many of which have not been examined by the Standing Committee. The BAC proposed a time for various important legislative items and debates. As per the BAC programme, Manipur Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill and Central Excise Bills will be discussed for three hours each. Similarly, three hours of discussion were devoted to the Supplementary Grant Request. Six hours were allocated to discuss the Health Tax Bill, which is planned to be introduced this week. The government has also proposed a 10-hour debate on the ‘Vande Mataram’ issue, but the final decision on the matter will be taken by the Speaker.

The House Business Advisory Committee (BAC) recommends the time to be devoted to business in the House. This commission includes members from the ruling and opposition parties. The session is planned to address many important bills and financial issues. Some of the key legislative works are: Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill, 2025; Insolvency and Bankruptcy Law (Amendment) Bill, 2025; Manipur Goods and Services Tax (Second Amendment) Bill, 2025; Repealed and Amended Bill, 2025; National Highways (Amendment) Bill, 2025; Atomic Energy Bill, 2025; Companies laws (Amendment) Bill, 2025; Securities Markets Bill (SMC), 2025; Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2025; Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Bill, 2025; Higher Education Commission of India Bill, 2025; Central Excise (Amendment) Bill, 2025 and Health Security and National Security Tax Bill, 2025.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will brief accredited media representatives on the opening day of the Sixth Session of the Eighteenth Lok Sabha on December 1 (Monday) at 10 am. The briefing will take place at Hans Dwar, Parliament House. Leaders in the INDIA bloc also called for a meeting at Rajya Sabha Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge’s office on Monday. The parliament is planned to hold 15 sessions over 19 days. Private Members’ bills will be discussed on 5 and 19 December, and Private Members’ resolutions will be discussed on 12 December.

(Except for the title, this news has not been edited by the DNA team and is published from ANI news agency).