Vice President and Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar hoisted the national flag atop the "Gaja Dwar" of the new Parliament building in New Delhi on Sunday. The all-party meeting is scheduled for Sunday before the special Parliament session begins from September 18.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla was also present at the ceremony and joined Dhankar while he hoisted the flag.
After the flag hoisting, Dhankar addressed the media when he said, "It is a historic moment, Bharat is witnessing epochal change. The world is in total recognition of might, power and contribution of Bharat."
Earlier, Dhankhar and Birla were separately accorded a guard of honour by the CRPF's Parliament Duty Group. Dhankhar and Birla interacted with the guests after the event as a CRPF band played in the background.
Who all attended the ceremony?
Union ministers, including Piyush Goyal, Pralhad Joshi and Arjun Ram Meghwal, attended the ceremony where leaders from other political parties were also present.
Congress president and Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge had said on Saturday that he would not be able to attend the flag hoisting function and expressed disappointment over getting the invite "quite late".
He wrote to Rajya Sabha Secretary General P C Mody, saying that he received the invite for the function only in the late evening of September 15.
What to expect at the all-party meeting today? - 5 points
1. Agenda of the special Parliament session - The Centre has not revealed the agenda for the entire five-day special Parliament session that begins on September 18 except for the first day. The parties attending the meeting today expect the central government to clear the air about the agenda for the rest of the days.
2. First-day agenda - According to the notification published by the Centre, the agenda for the first day of the special parliament session includes the discussion on “Parliamentary Journey of 75 years starting from Samvidhan Sabha – Achievements, Experiences, Memories and Learnings”, along with that, for the Lok Sabha during the session - the Advocates (Amendment) Bill, 2023 and Press and Registration of Periodicals Bill, 2023, passed by the Rajya Sabha on 3 August, 2023, and the Post Office Bill, 2023.
3. CWC resolutions and demands - The Congress Working Committee meeting in Hyderabad on September 16 has listed resolutions and demands for the upcoming parliamentary session including increasing the upper limit for reservation of SC, ST and other backward classes along with urging the Centre to focus on increasing unemployment and price rise in the market. They also passed condolence resolutions for the lives lost in Manipur and Himachal Pradesh. The Congress made it clear that they oppose the CEC bill that the Centre has listed on the first day of the special Parliament session.
4. Women reservation bill - It is speculated that the government might bring in the Women Reservation Bill to ensure a 33 per cent quota for women in the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies.
5. Where will the special Parliament session take place - The hoisting ceremony took place a day before the five-day special Parliament session which is scheduled to begin on Monday. According to PTI, the parliamentary proceedings may shift from the old to the adjacent new building.
