Winter Session: Opposition presses for debate on Adani

The opposition on Sunday asked the Centre to allow discussions in the Parliament on the United States prosecutors' bribery charges against the Adani Group even as Union minister Kiren Rijiju made it clear that the matters to be taken up in the two Houses will be decided by their authorised committees with the consent of the respective Chair.

IMAGE: Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Minority Affairs Kiren Rijiju, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Union minister and BJP president J P Nadda and others attend all-party meet ahead of Winter Session of Parliament, at Main Committee Room, Parliament House Annexe in New Delhi on Sunday. Photograph: ANI Photo

Following the customary all-party meeting on the eve of the Parliament's Winter Session commencing Monday, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Rijiju told reporters that the government has appealed to all the parties to ensure smooth conduct of business in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.

Forty-two leaders from 30 parties attended the meeting which was chaired by senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.

On Congress' demand to hold discussions on the Adani issue on 'priority' apart from a host of other matters, including the Manipur unrest, Rijiju said the business advisory committees of the two Houses will take a call on the subjects of parliamentary business with the consent of the Lok Sabha speaker and the Rajya Sabha chairman.

Raising the matter at the meeting, Congress' Deputy Leader in the Lok Sabha, Gaurav Gogoi, dubbed the Adani issue as a scam, saying the government should not reject or ignore their demand on any 'technicality' as it concerns Indian institutions and investors.

Billionaire industrialist Gautam Adani, whose conglomerate includes a host of companies covering power to ports sectors, has been charged by US prosecutors for allegedly being part of a scheme to pay $265 million (about Rs 2,200 crore) bribe to Indian officials in exchange of favourable terms for solar power contracts in four Indian states.

The Adani Group has denied the charge, saying the allegations levelled by the US prosecutors are baseless and that the conglomerate is compliant with all laws.

Congress leader Pramod Tiwari also said the government should set aside other businesses to take up a discussion on the issue on priority.

It is a grave issue involving the country's economic and security interests as over Rs 2,300 crore were allegedly paid by the company to politicians and bureaucrats to get favourable deals for its solar energy projects, the Rajya Sabha MP said.

Raising the Manipur violence, Gogoi said the ruling dispensation jailed the Jharkhand chief minister (Hemant Soren) and made changes in Jammu and Kashmir for a variety of reasons, but kept its faith in Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh despite his alleged involvement in violence.

The matter must be debated in the Parliament, he said.

The Winter Session is scheduled to be held from November 25 to December 20.

At the meeting, two BJP allies from Adnhra Pradesh -- Telugu Desam Party and Jana Sena Party -- raised the issue of pending implementation of the promises made during the division of the state in 2014 under the Andhra Pradesh Reorganiation Act, saying the Parliament should know their present status.

"We want the government to put the status on record," TDP leader Lavu Sri Krishna Devarayalu told PTI, noting that while some promises have been fulfilled and some are being taken up, a few still remain unfulfilled.

Jana Sena leader Balashowry Vallabhaneni spoke on similar lines.

The Polavaram irrigation project has come to a standstill, Devarayalu said, adding that the Parliament must also discuss disaster management as so many southern cities are getting affected due to heavy downpour triggered by climate change.

Asked about his party's stand on the Adani issue, Devarayalu said more details need to come out but added that his party does not want the state's brand image to be harmed.

The meeting was attended by BJP president J P Nadda, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's Tiruchi Siva, Akali Dal's Harsimrat Kaur Badal and Lok Janshakti Party-Ram Vilas MP Arun Bharti, among others.

Siva asked the Centre to withdraw the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, which the government is keen to table in the session despite opposition by several Muslim organisations.

Bharti raised the issue of Bihar being hit frequently by floods and sought a relief package, besides demanding that the lateral entry provision should be given a constitutional status to safeguard the interests of SCs and STs.

The government has listed 16 bills for consideration in the Winter Session.

The bills pending in the Lok Sabha include the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, which has been listed for consideration and passage after a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) of the two Houses submits its report on it to the Lower House.

The panel is mandated to submit its report on the last day of the first week of the Winter session.

The opposition members in the panel are demanding an extension in the timeline to submit its report.

Accusing the JPC Chairman and BJP MP Jagdambika Pal of bulldozing the committee's meetings, the opposition members sought the intervention of Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla.

Commenting on the matter, Rijiju said there is a provision to extend the tenure of the JPC but as of now, there have been no discussions on it.

He also underlined that the business advisory committee of the Lok Sabha is the right platform to discuss the issue of extending the JPC's timeline.

As many as eight bills, including the Waqf (Amendment) Bill and the Mussalman Wakf (Repeal) Bill, are pending in the Lok Sabha. According to a Lok Sabha bulletin, two bills are pending with the Rajya Sabha.

A Rajya Sabha bulletin said an additional bill -- The Bharatiya Vayuyan Vidheyak -- passed by the Lok Sabha is pending with the Upper House.

A set of proposed bills to implement simultaneous elections in the country are not part of the list yet, though some reports suggested that the government is likely to bring the proposed legislation in the coming session.