NEW DELHI: Ahead of the Special Session of the Parliament which is set to commence on Monday, an all-party meeting was held in the national capital with various political parties demanding the passage of women’s reservation bill in the upcoming session.
The Special Session of the Parliament will be held from September 18 to 22.
Coming out of the all-party meeting, NCP leader (Ajit Pawar faction) Praful Patel on Sunday said that the Women’s Reservation bill should be passed in Parliament adding that this step by the government will receive cross-party support.
Speaking to ANI, Praful Patel said,” After 75 years of Independence, we are about to get a new Parliament. This will be a matter of pride for everybody. We should enter the new parliament building with new thoughts and vision. This issue (Women reservation bill) has been discussed over a long time but concrete steps have not been taken yet.”
DMK MP Kanimozhi after the all-party meeting said that there is no clarity on why this session has been called however she stated that there was a strong emphasis on the Women’s Reservation Bill.
“We wanted to know why this 5-day session of Parliament has been called, there is no clarity on that. There was a strong emphasis on the Women’s Reservation Bill to be passed in this session and we wanted the Manipur issue, price rise, unemployment and many other issues to be discussed. We also wanted the suspension of Raghav Chadha and Sanjay Singh to be revoked,” she said.
“We are very happy that the Centre called this short session and inaugurated the new Parliament building. We have demanded a Women’s Reservation Bill. Participation of women must increase,” BJD MP Pinaki Misra said after the all-party meeting.
Mentioning that the demand on the Women’s reservation bill has also been raised in earlier meetings, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said that the government follows its own agenda.
“Such a demand (for women’s reservation bill) has been raised in meetings earlier also. The government follows its own agenda. The right decision will be taken at the right time,” he said.
Meanwhile, leaders of the opposition parties also claimed that there is no clarity on the upcoming session and stated that the government is hiding its real agenda.
Kerala Congress MP Jose K Mani said, “They (Centre) are not clear about it (agenda). They are not telling us the agendas (of special Parliament sessions) that are taken up are normal subjects. They are hiding something, and we wanted to ask them what is the agenda. “
CPI MP Binoy Viswam said, “They (Centre) tried to create the impression that this is a special Parliament session but today they pretended that there is no special session and it is a normal session. In that case, they have a duty to allow the members to have a zero-hour. Unanimously every party want the Women Reservation Bill to be passed.”
Earlier yesterday Congress Working Committee also adopted a resolution demanding that the Women’s Reservation Bill be passed during the upcoming special session of Parliament.
Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao also wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday demanding that the Government of India should provide 33 per cent reservation to women in the Parliament.
“As you are aware, our Constitution has envisaged suitable provisions for affirmative action in favour of Women to correct historical prejudices and discrimination against them. I am happy to inform you that Telangana State Government is implementing 30 per cent reservation for women in public employment and admissions in educational institutions,” the letter read.
“Bills introduced/ passed in Rajya Sabha do not lapse. Women’s Reservation Bill is still very much active. The Congress party has for the past nine years been demanding that the Women’s Reservation Bill already passed by the Rajya Sabha should now get passed by the Lok Sabha as well,” Jairma Ramesh wrote on X.
The Women’s Reservation Bill seeks to reserve 33 per cent of seats in the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies for women. Despite being a crucial step towards gender parity and inclusive governance, the Bill has remained in legislative limbo for far too long.
The Monsoon Session of Parliament, which concluded last month, was held in the old Parliament building. The Special Session will see a discussion on Parliament’s 75-year journey, starting from the Samvidhan Sabha that first met on December 9, 1946.
Meanwhile, AAP leader Sanjay Singh said that all opposition parties including RLP-LJP demanded his and Raghav Chadha’s suspension.
“We are going to the new Parliament so we should make a new beginning with a big heart,” he said.
The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) on Sunday raised the issue of N Chandrababu Naidu’s arrest by the Andhra Pradesh government at the all-party meeting here which led to a heated argument between the TDP and YSR Congress, sources said on Sunday.
According to the sources, Ram Mohan Naidu from TDP has demanded the intervention of the Central government in Chandrababu’s arrest and protection of democracy in the state.
A discussion on ‘Parliamentary Journey of 75 years starting from Samvidhan Sabha – Achievements, Experiences, Memories and Learnings’ will be held in Parliament on the first day of the five-sitting long special session, a parliamentary bulletin said on Wednesday.
Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Pralhad Joshi requested all party leaders for active cooperation and support for the smooth functioning of the two Houses of Parliament
The announcement of the Special Session came as a surprise in political circles with the parties gearing up for assembly polls in five states later this year.
Earlier today, Vice President and Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar hoisted the national flag at the new Parliament building a day before the commencement of the Special Session of Parliament. The Special Session, starting on Monday will see parliamentary proceedings shift from the old to the adjacent new building. Dhankhar hoisted the flag atop “Gaja Dwar” of the new Parliament building. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla was also present on the occasion. (ANI)