“Special Session Agenda Unknown, All-Party Meeting Called a Day Before”

A five-day Special session of Parliament is scheduled by the Indian government, although the agenda is still unknown. Opposition leaders are concerned about this action. Former Congress President Sonia Gandhi wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to express her outrage about the lack of consultation with other political parties.

Special Session

The administration has organized an all-party meeting for Monday evening, just hours before the special session is set to start, in reaction to the mounting uncertainty. On social media website X (formerly known as Twitter), Union Minister Pralhad Joshi, who represents Karnataka’s Dharwad seat in the Lok Sabha, announced this meeting. He announced that the meeting’s goal would be to talk about the schedule for the upcoming session of Parliament. However, the agenda’s ambiguity has given rise to a lot of speculation, with some even proposing that the government change India’s official name to Bharat.

The opposition parties have criticized the special session’s murky circumstances. Despite describing the all-party gathering as regular, CPI leader D Raja highlighted that the administration should have engaged the opposition before holding the extraordinary session. No one is aware of the special session’s agenda, he said, expressing the worries of many. What topics are going to be discussed?

The official invitations to G20 leaders from President Droupadi Murmu’s office referred to her as the “President of Bharat,” which added to the confusion around the agenda of the summit. Although the administration highlighted the relevant section of the Constitution that states that “India, that is, Bharat, shall be a Union of States,” the opposition expressed outrage over this.

It’s also possible that a special session may be called to formally announce the Parliament’s transfer from its current site to a new one on September 19, according to certain reports.

There has been widespread criticism of the government’s decision to host the special session, and some opposition leaders have expressed disappointment that it falls on Ganesh Chaturthi, one of the most significant festivals in India. According to Priyanka Chaturvedi of the Shiv Sena UBT, “This special session called during India’s most important festival of Ganesh Chaturthi… goes against Hindu sentiments!” Supriya Sule of the Nationalist Congress Party demanded that the meeting be postponed in the meantime.

In her letter to Prime Minister Modi, former Congress leader Sonia Gandhi drew attention to the session’s unclear agenda and lack of interaction with other political parties. “None of us have any idea of its agenda,” she said, “all that has been communicated to us is that all five days have been set aside for ‘government business.'” According to government sources, the program for the session may include debates on India’s standing as a “developed nation,” in addition to Chandrayaan-3, the Moon mission, and the recently concluded, highly lauded G20 Summit in Delhi.

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