The first day of the Special Session of Parliament will be held in the old building on September 18. The session will be moved to the new building on September 19 on Ganesh Chaturthi, reported news agency ANI. The five-day special session will reportedly see the introduction of bills on women's reservation and 'one nation-one election'. The five-day special session of Parliament has been convened by Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi from September 18-22. The agenda of the session will soon be made public.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the new Parliament building on June 1. Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla accompanied the Prime Minister during the inauguration ceremony that began with a puja. The historic 'Sengol' was installed near the Speaker's chair the same day.
“The country built a modern Parliament building. Parliament is the symbol of the country's democracy. It has representation from the Ruling side as well as the Opposition. But this faction of the Opposition opposed the new Parliament building,” PM Modi said while inaugurating the new building. Even the inauguration was clouded in controversy after the Centre announced that PM Modi would throw the doors open to the lawmakers as the Opposition had demanded that President Droupadi Murmu inaugurate the building.
The new building would be used for the special session, which would reportedly see the introduction of bills on women's reservation in Parliament and the policy on 'one nation-one election'. While the central government is pushing for the policy's implementation, the Opposition has demanded that such a move would only prove to be a hurdle for democracy.
According to several media reports, the special session may also see the BJP tabling a bill to change the name of India to 'Bharat'. This speculation has sparked a massive uproar among the "united" Opposition. The I.N.D.I.A bloc has alleged that the Centre wants to rename the nation as it is afraid of the Opposition and its acronym. The BJP, however, insists that the name India is a remnant of colonial legacy and must be changed.