Bribery charges against Gautam Adani and others are likely to cloud the winter session of Parliament starting on Monday as the Congress has pressed the demand for an immediate discussion on the issue. There is also demand for discussion on continuing Manipur violence and train accidents.
The session will commence form November 25 and is likely to continue till December 20, subject to exigencies of legislative business. There will also be a special event on November 26 marking the 75th anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution in the Central Hall of Samvidhan Sadan (the old Parliament building). There will be a total of 19 sittings.
The government has listed 11 pending Bills for consideration and passing. Five new Bills have been listed for introduction, consideration and passing. Meanwhile, the bills pending in the Lok Sabha include the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, which has been listed for consideration and passage after the joint committee of the two Houses submits its report to the Lok Sabha. The panel is mandated to submit its report on the last day of the first week of the Winter session.
A Bill based on the Ram Nath Kovind committee report on “one nation one election”, which the Union cabinet has approved, does not feature in the government’s list of business. Government sources have claimed that it could introduce the Bill during the session.
However, the Congress has expressed opposition to this bill, insisting that the Prime Minister must build consensus across all parties in Parliament before moving forward with the proposal.
On the eve of the session, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju convened an all party meeting which was attended by BJP President J P Nadda, Congress MPs Jairam Ramesh, Pramod Tiwari, K. Suresh, along with JD(U) MP Upendra Kushwaha. Also in attendance were PV Midhun Reddy and V Vijaysai Reddy from YSRCP, Sasmit Patra from BJD, Vaiko from MDMK, Ramgopal Yadav from SP, and Lavu Sri Krishna Devarayalu from TDP, among others.
Emerging from the meeting, Congress leader Pramod Tiwari said his party has urged the government to allow a discussion on Adani bribery scandal in the session. “It is a grave issue involving the country’s economic and security interests as over ₹2,300 crore were allegedly paid by the company to politicians and bureaucrats to get favourable deal for its solar energy projects,” he said
Further, he added that his party wanted the issue to be taken up in Parliament as the first thing when it meets on Monday. Gautam Adani has been charged by US prosecutors for allegedly being part of a scheme to pay $265 million (about ₹2,200 crore) bribe to Indian officials in exchange of favourable terms for solar power contracts.
The Congress, he said, also wanted a discussion on issues like severe air pollution in north India, the Manipur situation, which has gone “out of control”, and train accidents.