Welcoming Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar for assuming charge as chairman of the Rajya Sabha, PM Modi said that the VP was taking charge at a time when the country was witnessing two historical occasions.
Amidst the excitement over the results of both the MCD followed by the Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh state assemblies, the winter session of the parliament began on Wednesday. The session, as the political analysts say will see the ripples of the state election results as every assembly election and victory offers further legitimacy to the winning party.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said the 'Amrit Kaal' of India’s independence will not only be a period of national development and glory but also an occasion when the country will play an important role in giving a direction to the world.
Welcoming Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar for assuming charge as chairman of the Rajya Sabha, the prime minister said the VP was taking charge at a time when the country was witnessing two historical occasions.
“India has just assumed the presidency of G20 and this is also a time when we have commenced our journey into 'Amrit Kaal'. Not only will 'Amrit Kaal' be a period of development and glory for the country it will also be an occasion when India will play an important role in giving direction to the world,” said the prime minister as the House met for the first day of the winter session.
Modi said in this journey, India’s democracy, parliament and parliamentary traditions will also play a significant role.
Hailing Dhankhar as a leader who has both the elements of 'jawan' (soldier) and 'kisan' (farmer) imbibed in him, the prime minister said the House was fortunate to receive “his able and effective leadership at this juncture in history.”
"Our Vice President is a 'Kisan Putra' (son of farmer) and he studied at a Sainik school. Thus, he is closely associated with jawans and kisans," he said.
The prime minister exuded confidence that under the guidance of Dhankhar, “all members will effectively perform their duties and the House will serve as an effective platform to help realise the dreams and pledges of the country.”
“Today you are formally commencing charge as chairman of this house. Many former prime ministers have been members of this august house at some time and many political stalwarts have started their journey from here. I am confident that your leadership will further enhance the dignity of this House and take it to greater heights,” Modi said.
The session will go on up to December 29. There will be total 17 sittings of both the houses where several issues of importance will be discussed.
The government has already planned to introduce 16 new bills in this session among which the major ones are The Trade Marks (Amendment) Bill 2022, The Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) (Amendment) Bill 2022, The Multi-State Cooperatives Societies (Amendment) Bill 2022, The Forest Conservation (Amendment) Bill 2022.
The opposition is expected to rock the boat of the government with the issues of misuse of central probe agencies, price rise, India-China border dispute and unemployment.
The sessions will be held at the old parliament building as the new one is yet to see the dawn of the day.
As per the conventions, the government yesterday held an all-party meeting inside the Parliamentary library building. Defence minister and senior BJP leader Rajnath Singh presided over the meeting. Leader of the House in Rajya Sabha, Piyush Goyal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi also attended the meeting along with other leaders of the different political parties.
After the meeting, Pralhad Joshi told the reporters, “Thirty-one out of 47 parties took part in the all-party meeting held today. Some suggestions have come from the Opposition and we have noted them.”
However, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury has objected to the government’s decision of extending the winter session through Christmas. He said, “Like Hindus and Muslims, Christians also have their own festivals, so they should get the chance to celebrate these festivals.”
Responding to the allegations that the government hasn’t kept the issue of Christmas in mind, Joshi said that December 24 and 25 will be holidays.
(With PTI Inputs)