During the ongoing five-day special session of Parliament, the second day will see both Houses convene in the newly-constructed Parliament building. This new building was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in May. On the first day of the special session, Modi initiated discussions in the Lok Sabha on the ‘Parliamentary Journey of 75 years’ as lawmakers bid farewell to the old parliamentary building.
Key updates from the special session of Parliament:
- On Tuesday, there will be a joint sitting of both Houses in the new Parliament building, where BJP MP Maneka Gandhi, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha leader Shibu Soren, and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will each have a five-minute speaking slot, as reported by news agency ANI, citing sources.
- Notable figures such as Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar, Prime Minister Modi, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Leader of the House in Rajya Sabha Piyush Goyal, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, and Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury will also deliver speeches during this joint session.
- The Lok Sabha is scheduled to convene at 1:15 pm in the new Parliament building on Tuesday, while the Rajya Sabha is set to meet at 2:15 pm in the same complex. The agenda includes deliberations and approval of up to eight bills, including a controversial bill aimed at excluding the Chief Justice of India (CJI) from the panel responsible for appointing the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and Election Commissioners (ECs).
- While the Members of Parliament will gather in the new building on Tuesday, the government’s legislative business is set to commence on Wednesday. On the second day, all MPs from both Houses have been invited for a group photograph at 9:30 am, as indicated in the bulletin from the Lok Sabha Secretariat. The official noted that arrangements have been made for the group photo in the inner courtyard of the old parliamentary building.
- Reports have also surfaced regarding the Union Cabinet’s clearance of the women’s reservation bill following the inaugural session on Monday. This development followed a post by Minister of State Prahlad Singh Patel on social media platform X (formerly Twitter), although the post was deleted within an hour. Prior to the special session’s commencement, an all-party meeting was held in Delhi, where various parties demanded the passage of the Women’s Reservation Bill during the five-day session. It is worth noting that the bill had been approved by the Rajya Sabha in 2010.
