New Delhi: From Manipur to Adani to growing unemployment, Congress leader Sonia Gandhi wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi Wednesday demanding a nine-point charter for the special session of Parliament that the government has convened from 18 to 22 September.
The Congress parliamentary party chairperson pointed out that the session had been convened without any consultation with other political parties. “None of us have any idea of its agenda. All we have been communicated is that all five days have been allocated to Government Business,” Gandhi’s letter said.
She added the Congress “most certainly” wanted to participate because “it will give us an opportunity to raise matters of public concern and importance”.
“I earnestly hope that time will be allocated under the appropriate Rules for a discussion and debate on these issues,” she added, listing nine points that the party wanted debated in Parliament.
Among these, the Congress wants a joint parliamentary committee to look into the recent allegations made against the Adani Group, the rise in communal tension in different states, “the continued agony faced by people of Manipur”, the “challenge to our sovereignty on our borders in Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh”, and an urgent need for a caste census.
Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi's letter to PM Modi over the upcoming special session of the Parliament. pic.twitter.com/ZwfnXfN3k8
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) September 6, 2023
The Monsoon Session of the Parliament was a near-washout with the Opposition’s demand for a detailed discussion on the continuing ethnic clashes in Manipur going unheard.
The Centre offered a shorter debate, which the Opposition rejected and then moved a no-confidence motion against the Narendra Modi government as a “last resort” to force a response on Manipur from the Prime Minister.
The Opposition also walked out during Modi’s reply to the motion, where he did not expand much on the northeast state beyond what Union Home Minister Amit Shah had said the day before.
Last week, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi announced the five-sitting special session on X.
“Amid Amrit Kaal looking forward to have fruitful discussions and debate in Parliament,” he said .
This comes barely weeks after the Monsoon Session wrapped up on 11 August after 17 sittings.
The government has so far kept the agenda close to its chest.