The five-day Special Session of Parliament beginning on September 18, has been called following all rules and regulations and it is “deeply unfortunate” that the Congress is unnecessarily raking up a controversy, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi wrote in a letter to Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi.
Earlier on Wednesday, Ms. Gandhi in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, had complained about lack of consultations before calling the session. Retorting to this allegation, Mr. Joshi said that consultations are never done for calling a Parliament session.
The Constitution, he pointed out, only says that the gap between two sessions should not exceed six months. “It is deeply unfortunate that you are politicising the work of our Parliament too and raking up controversy where none exists,” he said.
Accusing Ms. Gandhi of not heeding to the existing conventions, he said that while the political parties aren’t consulted for deciding the dates for a session, the leaders are called after the President announces the date to discuss the issues and business that will be taken up during the session, he said.
“We are ready for a debate on every issue. But the issues that you have mentioned have already been discussed during the no-confidence motion debate during the Monsoon Session of Parliament,” he said. The list of business will be notified, he said, at the right time, as per the established practice.
