Winter session of Parliament begins on Monday, opposition to raise economic slowdown, Kashmir detentions

Ahead of the Parliament session, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi  convened an all-party meeting on Sunday.

In the meeting, the Opposition demanded that the issues of economic slowdown, job loss and farm distress be discussed during the session, Congress leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said.

At the meeting attended by 27 parties, Prime Minister Narendra Modi hoped for a productive session.

The PM said the most important job of the House is to discuss and debate, the Parliamentary Affairs Minister told reporters.

Mr Modi said the session should also be as productive as the last one, according to Joshi.

The meeting was attended by the Prime Minister, BJP chief Amit Shah and several senior opposition leaders.

Union minister Thawarchand Gehlot, Congress leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad and deputy leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Anand Sharma were among others present.

Besides, TMC leader Derek O'Brien, LJP leader Chirag Paswan and Samajwadi Party leader Ram Gopal Yadav, Telugu Desam Party Jayadev Galla and V Vijaysai Reddy also attended the meeting.

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Saturday held an all-party meeting where he sought cooperation from various parties for smooth functioning of both houses of Parliament.

Leaders of various political parties in the Lok Sabha  attended the meeting in which the Prime Minister was also present.

After the meeting,  Mr Modi said he looks forward to a productive Winter session of Parliament .

In a post on social media,  the PM said, ''Had a wonderful interaction with leaders and MPs across party lines this evening.

''We look forward to a productive Parliament session, where people-centric and development oriented issues would be discussed.''

The Centre is likely push for the passage of the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, a key BJP plank which is aimed at granting nationality to non-Muslim immigrants from neighbouring counties.

On the other hand the opposition will be looking to attack the government on issues like the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, economic slowdown, unemployment and the government's plan to bring the Citizenship bill.

Congress' Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said the issues concerning the common man will be raised in the winter session and added that Congress will press the government to allow Farooq Abdullah, who has been under detention since the Centre revoked the special status of Jammu and Kashmir, attend the discussion in the Parliament, media reported.

Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad also said Farooq Abdullah is confined illegally and the government should allow him to take part in the winter session of the Parliament.

Besides the passage of the Citizenship (amendment) bill, the government also plans to convert two crucial ordinances into law during the session. An ordinance reducing corporate tax rate for new and domestic manufacturing companies to arrest slowdown in the economy and boost growth was issued in September to give effect to amendments in the Income Tax Act, 1961 and Finance Act, 2019.

The second ordinance, also issued in September, banned sale, manufacture and storage of e-cigarettes and similar products. This is the second Parliament session of the BJP-led NDA government which returned to power with a greater mandate in the Lok Sabha elections. 

The first session of the government was very productive which saw both houses passing key legislations such as the one to penalise the practice of instant triple talaq and the other giving more powers to the National Investigation Agency.