New Delhi: Coming down heavily on the Congress for slamming the government over its decision to convene a special parliamentary session without consulting the Opposition, the Centre on Wednesday said the Constitution gives this privilege to the government to summon such sessions and asked the grand old party to refrain from politicising the issue.
The development comes after Congress leader Sonia Gandhi wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi stating the government did not share its agenda for the upcoming parliamentary session and listed nine issues for discussion.
Responding to her letter, Union Minister Pralhad Joshi told news agency ANI, “In a democracy, nobody should play politics over the issue. The Congress, which was at the helm of power for over five decades, should not try to politicise this issue. Nowhere in the past before calling a session, there was consultation with Opposition parties. It is the prerogative of the government after taking the President’s permission. Article 85 of the Constitution provides this power to the government.”
Reacting to Congress’s claim that the agenda of this special session wasn’t shared, Joshi said, “Never before, even when other governments were at the Centre, the agenda was circulated in advance. Unnecessarily, they (Congress) are politicising the issue and that’s really unfortunate.”
Echoing Joshi’s statement, Union Minister Meenakshi Lekhi said the agenda is always decided when the session approaches and initially only the dates for the session is decided.
Speaking to ANI, Lekhi said, “Whenever a parliamentary session begins, only the dates are decided. It's not the first time that this is happening. The agenda is decided as the session approaches.”
Hitting out at Sonia Gandhi, Union Minister Piyush Goyal, as quoted by ANI, said, “It is sad that Sonia Gandhi, Congress party and the Opposition are trying to politicise the issue. I request Sonia Gandhi and her party to take part in the special session and support the government in its works for the welfare of the people through dialogue and discussion. The Congress does not have any pressing issues and all they can do is issue divisive statements.”
In her letter to PM Modi, Gandhi wrote, “You have convened a special five-day session of the 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.”
“We most certainly want to participate in the Special Session because it will give us an opportunity to raise matters of public concern and importance. I earnestly hope that time will be allocated under the appropriate Rules for a discussion and debate on these issues,” her letter stated.