All-party meet day before special session, Opposition’s ‘Only 2 know agenda’ dig

The government has called an all-party meeting on September 17, a day before the special session of Parliament commences.

Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi made this announcement and said that invitations were sent through e-mail to all leaders of opposition parties to attend the meeting.

“Ahead of the parliament session from the 18th of this month, an all-party floor leaders meeting has been convened on the 17th at 4:30 pm. The invitation for the same has been sent to concerned leaders through email. Letter to follow,” Joshi wrote on X.

The special session of Parliament, from September 18 to 22, was announced on August 31 by Joshi, who kept the agenda for it under wraps, triggering speculation.

The Opposition has criticised the government for not revealing the agenda of the special session of Parliament.

Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Derek O’Brien took a jibe at the government and said there was still no word on the agenda of Parliament’s special session.

“Two working days to go before the Special Parliament Session begins and still not a word on the agenda. Only two people know! And we still call ourselves a parliamentary democracy,” he wrote on X.

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh also took a dig at the government for not announcing any agenda and tweeted a list of the previous special sessions of the House with agendas.

According to officials, the session will begin in the old Parliament building and shift to the new structure the next day. The shift to the new Parliament building will coincide with Ganesh Chaturthi on September 19, considered auspicious to make new beginnings.

During the upcoming session, a resolution to rename India as Bharat may be brought in by the government. The Constitution of India currently refers to the country as “India, that is Bharat…”, but there is a growing call to amend this to simply “Bharat”.