Adhir Attends: “Am I Not Enough?” while Kharge and Rahul Skip Flag Hoisting at New Parliament

Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar raised the flag of the country at the Gaja Dwar of the New Parliament building ahead of Monday’s extraordinary session of Parliament and today’s all-party meeting.

Speaker of the Lok Sabha Om Birla, Ministers of the Union Piyush Goyal and Pralhad Joshi, and Congressman Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury were also present at the event.

Pralhad Joshi, minister of union parliamentary affairs, responded to parties’ claims that they got the invitation for the flag-hoisting ceremony “quite late” and to Mallikarjun Kharge’s absence from the event. Joshi noted that the invitation was distributed ahead of schedule and said, “Congress always wants to play politics, so how come Adhir Ranjan has arrived but not Mallikarjun?” He continued by saying that other opposition parties, including TMC, have offered the same justification.

Senior Congressman Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury responded by asking, “Am I not enough? Inform me that I’m leaving if I’m not helpful here.Pay attention to those who are here. I’m here, does that not satisfy the media?

The government will inform them and get their thoughts during an all-party meeting on Sunday. The meeting will take place as speculation grows as to whether the center will include a surprise element in the discussion.

Even though the primary outstanding item on the stated agenda is a special debate on Parliament’s journey of 75 years beginning with the “Samvidhan Sabha” (Constituent Assembly), the session’s peculiar date has left everyone perplexed. The session starts on Monday.

A debate on the history of Parliament is the first item on the government’s agenda, which was released on Wednesday for the forthcoming extraordinary session of Parliament.

A discussion on the topic of “Parliamentary Journey of 75 years starting from Samvidhan Sabha – Achievements, Experiences, Memories and Learnings” will be conducted on September 18, 2023, in addition to other official business including the laying of papers, according to a bulletin from the Parliament.

On September 19, in honor of Ganesh Chaturthi, the special session will convene at the old Parliament building before moving to the new Parliament building.

The administration has also outlined five legislation for passing during the five-day session in addition to talking about the history of the Parliament.

The first is the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Bill, 2023. Despite fierce resistance from the opposing side, this measure was tabled during the preceding monsoon session of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha. The law suggests that future chief election commissioners and election commissioners would be chosen by a three-person committee chaired by the Prime Minister.

2. On August 4, the Lok Sabha received the Advocates (Amendment) Bill, 2023, which had been approved by the Rajya Sabha on August 3. While repealing the Legal Practitioners Act of 1879, it intends to regulate the legal profession only via the Advocates Act of 1961 and keeps a clause that addresses touts in courts.

3. The Rajya Sabha also approved the Press and Registration of Periodicals Bill, 2023, which was then presented to the Lok Sabha on August 4. The government claims that it would make it easier for media and publishing enterprises to do business, streamline the registration procedure, and decriminalize a number of penal legislation from colonial times.

4. On August 10, the Post Office Bill, 2023, was presented in the Rajya Sabha. After being approved by the Rajya Sabha, the bill would be brought on the Lok Sabha table for deliberation. It provides for topics relating to the operation of the Post Office, a project of the central government, and repeals the Indian Post Office Act, 1898.

5. The Rajya Sabha has placed the Repealing and Amending Bill, 2023, on its agenda. The Lok Sabha approved this bill, which aims to abolish 65 laws that are no longer in effect or that have been rendered unnecessary by other laws. Additionally, it fixes a small drafting mistake in the 2011 Factoring Regulation Act.

A measure to provide a quota for women in elected legislatures like the Lok Sabha and state assemblies has also been discussed.

The probability that the session would be moved to the new Parliament building has, however, increased interest in it. The administration is indicating that the move to the new facility will likely be characterized by a fresh start in more ways than one by ordering new uniforms for various sections of the legislative staff.

The Congress has dubbed the new dress code for a segment of the employees with a floral design as a “cheap” ploy to promote the governing party’s election emblem, the lotus flower.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi referred to the meeting as a “special session” while announcing it. However, the administration subsequently clarified that it was a normal session, the 13th for the current Lok Sabha and the 261st for the Rajya Sabha.

There will be no Question Hour or Zero Hour during the forthcoming five-day extraordinary session.