Winter Session of Parliament: Constitution debate today in Lok Sabha amid showdown between government and INDIA bloc | Mint

The Lok Sabha will begin a two-day debate on the Constitution today, marking the beginning of the 75th year of adoption of the Constitution in the country.

Government and Opposition lawmakers will speak during the debate against the backdrop of a bitter political confrontation that marred the ongoing winter session of Parliament, with the INDIA bloc moving a motion seeking the removal of Rajya Sabha Speaker Jagdeep Dhankhar .

The debate on the Constitution will take place in the Lok Sabha on December 13 and 14, and in the Rajya Sabha on December 16 and 17.

Defense Minister Rajnath Singh will initiate the debate on the Constitution in the Lok Sabha, while Union Home Minister Amit Shah is expected to initiate a similar debate in the Rajya Sabha, government sources said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to respond to the two-day debate on the Constitution in the Lok Sabha on Saturday.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress have issued three-line whips for all its Lok Sabha members to allow them to be present in the House of Representatives on December 13 and 14.

Special discussion on the agenda

There will be a “special discussion on the 75th anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution of India,” according to the Lok Sabha agenda. The discussions start after Question Time, which is also on the agenda of the House of Representatives.

Modi held a strategy meeting ahead of the debate, which was attended by Shah and Singh and BJP chief JP Nadda, among others, news agency PTI reported. Earlier, Shah held a meeting with senior BJP ministers, including Nadda, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, at his office in Parliament.

The Opposition Congress also held a strategy meeting at the party headquarters, which was attended by party president Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, besides other senior leaders including KC Venugopal and Jairam Ramesh, to make plans. for the strategy in Parliament for the coming week.

The winter session of Parliament, which began on November 25, is likely to end on December 20. The BJP and Congress lawmakers have been leveling allegations against each other over the past week, with the BJP linking Congress leaders, including Sonia Gandhi, with the US. billionaire George Soros to refute bribery allegations against the Adani Group.

Rahul to speak from the opposition side

While Rahul Gandhi was likely to take up the discussion on the Constitution in the Lok Sabha on behalf of the Opposition as LoP, some leaders hinted at a change of strategy and said Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra could open the debate for the Opposition camp, which would be her maiden speech in the Lok Sabha.

Kharge will start the debate from the Opposition side in the Rajya Sabha.

The Rajya Sabha will hold the debate on December 16 and 17 and Prime Minister Modi is expected to reply in the House of Lords on Tuesday, December 17.

The debate on the Constitution was the main demand of the opposition for the winter session of parliament.

On November 26, 1949, the Indian Constituent Assembly formally adopted the Constitution, which came into effect on January 26, 1950, making India a sovereign, democratic republic.

In 2015, the government of India formally declared November 26 as Constitution Day (Samvidhan Divas) in honor of the adoption of the Indian Constitution in 1949. Since then, the country has celebrated the adoption of the Constitution on this day annually.