After a fractious beginning of the winter session of the Parliament on Monday, a breakthrough has come over as the Lok Sabha floor leaders have agreed to participate in a discussion of 150 years of Vande Mataram on Tuesday. This will be followed by a two-day debate on electoral reform, a major demand of the Opposition.
The Union government has been very keen on holding a discussion on 150 years of Vande Mataram, before moving on to a short-duration discussion on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) or the electoral reforms.
K Suresh, Congress's chief whip in the Lok Sabha, said, "All parties have agreed to have a discussion on 150 years of Vande Mataram next Monday. On December 8 and 9, the discussion on electoral reforms will take place." He also stated that even the Trinamool Congress (TMC) did not object.
Lok Sabha floor leaders agreed to the discussion on Vande Mataram at a meeting chaired by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla. This agreement signals a positive move, ensuring a better functioning of the ongoing winter session of the Parliament. However, the Rajya Sabha floor leaders are yet to decide the schedule of debates.
Beginning fractiously on Monday, the winter session observed the Opposition demanding an immediate debate on electoral reform and disrupting business, despite the government assuring that it would consider their proposal.
Even earlier on Tuesday, no possible breakthrough could be achieved at the meeting between the government and the opposition bloc on a discussion on the SIR. After meeting with leaders of Congress, TMC, Samajwadi Party, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), Communist Party of India (Marxist), and Aam Aadmi Party on Tuesday, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said that the discussion will surely take place, only the opposition cannot insist on the timeline.
The Opposition responded that there is no clarity as to whether the issue will be taken up for discussion or not. TMC leader Derek O'Brien said after the meeting, "We told the government that they should come up and announce that the discussion on SIR will be taken up on Wednesday in the Lok Sabha, and then the Rajya Sabha, but they are not doing that."
Congress's Jairam Ramesh added that there was no assurance on the timeline of the discussion from the government. He said, "There is a huge trust deficit which is simply unbridgeable owing to how the government behaves with the opposition."