Centre's all-party meet today to strategize for Parliament's monsoon session
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led central government has called an all-party meeting on Wednesday to discuss issues related to the Parliament monsoon session. Rajya Sabha Chairperson Jagdeep Dhankar called a similar meeting on Tuesday, but it was postponed as the leaders of many parties were unavailable. The monsoon session is scheduled to commence from Thursday and continue till August 11.
Why does this story matter?
The monsoon session is expected to see an intense clash between the ruling alliance and the opposition. The last session of Parliament also witnessed frequent protests by opposition members. Notably, the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and the joint opposition front huddled on Tuesday in New Delhi and Bengaluru, respectively, to boost their campaigns for next year's Lok Sabha elections.
Opposition likely to attack Centre over Manipur, Delhi ordinance
Reportedly, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh held a meeting with Cabinet members, including Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi and Leader of the House in Rajya Sabha Piyush Goyal, on Tuesday in connection with the meeting. The opposition is likely to corner the government over the Manipur issue, the ordinance to control Delhi's services, rising inflation, and the alleged misuse of Central agencies against political rivals.
21 new bills, 7 old bills to be tabled
The monsoon session is expected to consist of 15 sittings. According to the bulletin issued by the Lok Sabha Secretariat, 21 new bills and seven old bills have been listed for discussion in this session. These include the Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, the Forest (Conservation) Amendment Bill, the Biological Diversity (Amendment) Bill, and the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Fifth Amendment) Bill, among others.
Session expected to start in old Parliament building, shift later
Furthermore, the session is expected to start in the old Parliament building and later shift to the new building, PTI reported. The Budget session held from January 31 to April 6 saw Lok Sabha work for 33% of its scheduled time and Rajya Sabha for 24%, statistics by PRS showed. While 27 sittings were planned for both Houses, only 25 were held.
