In response to Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) chairperson Sonia Gandhi’s allegation that other political parties were not consulted before calling a special Parliament session, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said that she is trying to politicise the functioning of Parliament.
In a letter to Gandhi, Joshi alleged, "It is very unfortunate that you are trying to politicise the functioning of our Parliament, and unnecessarily trying to create controversy when there is no dispute.”
Joshi wrote, "Following the fully established procedure, President has called the Parliament session starting from September 18. Perhaps you are not paying attention to the traditions. Before calling the session, neither political parties are consulted nor are issues discussed with them. After the President calls the session and before the commencement of the session, a meeting of the leaders of all parties is held in which the issues and business arising in the Parliament are discussed."
He mentioned, "I would also like to say that our government is always ready to discuss any issue. However, all the issues you have mentioned, have been discussed during no-confidence motion debate in the monsoon session."
Hitting back at Sonia Gandhi's allegation of not disclosing the agenda for the special session, Joshi said, "As always, the agenda of the session will be circulated at the appropriate time as per the established practice. I would also like to point out that in our parliamentary working system, no matter which party is in government, till date the agenda has never been discussed in advance."
Earlier in the day, Sonia Gandhi wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlighting nine issues needing detailed discussion during the special session.
Addressing a press conference here, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said that Sonia Gandhi in her letter stated, "You have convened a special five-day session of Parliament beginning 18 September, 2023. I must point out that this Special Session has 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 for Government Business."
The Modi government has called the special session of Parliament from September 18 to 22. This will be the 13th session of the 17th Lok Sabha.
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