The Union government has called an all-party meeting on November 30 at 11 am to build consensus for the Winter Session of Parliament, which begins on December 1. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju has written to floor leaders of all political parties inviting them to attend. The meeting will be chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, according to the information shared by the Opposition.
The Winter Session is scheduled from December 1 to December 19. It will span 19 days but have 15 sittings, making it shorter than previous winter sessions.
Rijiju stated that the government is seeking cooperation to ensure a smooth session and described the goal as a constructive sitting that strengthens democracy.
The Opposition has criticised both the scheduling and the length of the session. According to Economic Times, Congress MP Jairam Ramesh called it “unusually delayed and truncated” and said in a tweet that the limited working days suggest the government has “no business to transact, no Bills to get passed, and no debates to be allowed.”
Opposition protests are expected during the session, especially around the second phase of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, which is underway in 12 states and Union Territories. Opposition parties plan to question the Election Commission’s conduct of the exercise and raise allegations of 'vote chori' (vote theft).
The government is expected to focus on passing key legislation during the short sitting. The listed Bills include the 129th and 130th Constitutional Amendment Bills, the Public Trust Bill, and amendments to the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Bill, among others.
Congress has stated that it will seek priority discussion in the all-party meeting on trade deal negotiations with the US and President Trump’s statements, which are linked to Operation Sindoor. Jairam Ramesh said the party will also raise issues related to China. He added that the session is only 15 days long and questioned what the government plans to achieve within that timeframe, ET added.
After a recent terror strike in Delhi, Opposition parties had demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi preside over the all-party meeting and that the Winter Session be advanced so Parliament could debate the incident.
In parallel, according to Hindustan Times, parties are preparing separate lines of attack on the SIR issue. Congress plans to focus on the Bihar election results and its signature campaign against vote theft, saying it has collected over 5 crore signatures and will hold a rally in Delhi early next month.
The Trinamool Congress (TMC) said it will press for a debate on the Election Commission based on West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s letter to Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, which urged that the SIR be halted in the state. SIR began in West Bengal on November 4.
The DMK plans to highlight the Tamil Nadu government’s challenge to the SIR in the Supreme Court.
A senior Opposition leader said the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) may not follow Congress’s approach on the floor and could support other parties such as the TMC or the Samajwadi Party on the issue.
The last time Parliament held a comparably short Winter Session was in 2013, when the sitting lasted 14 days (December 5–18) with 11 sittings.
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