Express News Service
NEW DELHI: A day after Congress leader Sonia Gandhi wrote to PM Narendra Modi about the Opposition not being kept in the loop on the upcoming special session of Parliament, a war of words broke out between Union minister Pralhad Joshi and Congress leader Jairam Ramesh over procedures related to Parliament sessions.
Responding to Ramesh’s charges that the previous governments had informed the agenda for special sessions in advance, Joshi accused him of twisting facts about constitutional provisions.
Ramesh had claimed that the agenda of every special session in the past was well known in advance and alleged that it was only the Modi government that “distorts” parliamentary conventions. He also cited past occasions such as the convening of a joint special session at the Central Hall on GST implementation on the midnight of June 30, 2017.
“A special session of the Lok Sabha was called in July 2008 for a trust vote after the Left parties withdrew support to the UPA-1 government. A special session was also called from August 26 to September 1 in 1997 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of India’s independence,” he pointed out.
Responding to Ramesh’s claims, Joshi wrote, “The summoning of Parliament is the greatest boon in a democracy. However, there is a lobby of compulsive contrarians who oppose the same. ‘A compulsive contrarian may be a master of doubt, but they often miss the beauty of certainty founded in truth’,” he said.
Setting the record straight, Joshi said that Ramesh has been falsely claiming that the historic function in Central Hall on June 30, 2017, for the GST rollout, was a Parliament session.
“That’s just not true! It wasn’t a session under Article 85 of the Constitution. Here’s a fact check: A session of Parliament under Article 85 of the Constitution is precisely that, and the agenda will be shared in accordance with established parliamentary practices,” said Joshi.
NEW DELHI: A day after Congress leader Sonia Gandhi wrote to PM Narendra Modi about the Opposition not being kept in the loop on the upcoming special session of Parliament, a war of words broke out between Union minister Pralhad Joshi and Congress leader Jairam Ramesh over procedures related to Parliament sessions.
Responding to Ramesh’s charges that the previous governments had informed the agenda for special sessions in advance, Joshi accused him of twisting facts about constitutional provisions.
Ramesh had claimed that the agenda of every special session in the past was well known in advance and alleged that it was only the Modi government that “distorts” parliamentary conventions. He also cited past occasions such as the convening of a joint special session at the Central Hall on GST implementation on the midnight of June 30, 2017.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });
“A special session of the Lok Sabha was called in July 2008 for a trust vote after the Left parties withdrew support to the UPA-1 government. A special session was also called from August 26 to September 1 in 1997 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of India’s independence,” he pointed out.
Responding to Ramesh’s claims, Joshi wrote, “The summoning of Parliament is the greatest boon in a democracy. However, there is a lobby of compulsive contrarians who oppose the same. ‘A compulsive contrarian may be a master of doubt, but they often miss the beauty of certainty founded in truth’,” he said.
Setting the record straight, Joshi said that Ramesh has been falsely claiming that the historic function in Central Hall on June 30, 2017, for the GST rollout, was a Parliament session.
“That’s just not true! It wasn’t a session under Article 85 of the Constitution. Here’s a fact check: A session of Parliament under Article 85 of the Constitution is precisely that, and the agenda will be shared in accordance with established parliamentary practices,” said Joshi.
