New leanings, price rise to be hot-button issues

New political alignments in Bihar — with Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) walking out of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance and joining the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance — and a leadership change in the Congress will be the new features of the winter session of Parliament that will begin on December 7 and end on December 29 with a total of 17 sittings.

With Congress leader Rahul Gandhi announcing earlier that he will not attend the session as he is busy with the Bharat Jodo Yatra, the session is expected to be tranquil. The winter session is traditionally one in which extensive legislative business is transacted and the government’s priority will be to clear Bills that have been cleared by one House and are pending in the other, said government sources.

Currently, 35 Bills are pending in Parliament. Of these, seven are listed for consideration and passing. Sixteen Bills are listed for introduction, consideration, and passing. One such, for instance, is the Energy Conservation (Amendment) Bill, 2022, which has been cleared by the Lok Sabha, and Rajya Sabha needs to clear it for it to become an Act.

Similarly, the Wildlife Protection (Amendment) Bill, 2021, that extends to the species protected under the law, and implements the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, was passed by the Lower House last December and needs to be passed by the Upper House.

Some Bills that were referred to parliamentary panels and have undergone bipartisan scrutiny are awaiting passage. One such is the Mediation Bill, 2021, that sets up the Mediation Council of India, mandates pre-litigation mediation, and makes mediation awards binding and enforceable. This is crucial because it envisages lowering the burden on courts.

A standing committee report was presented in July. The Anti-maritime Piracy Bill, 2019, that was referred to the standing committee, is likely to be passed by both Houses, following incorporation of standing committee suggestions. This Bill enables authorities to take action against piracy on the high seas, and punishes acts of piracy with life imprisonment or death.

After an internal party meet, the Congress announced it will raise issues of unemployment, price rise, and Chinese incursions across the border. “The government continues its silence on Chinese incursions and changes in the status quo on the Line of Actual Control, even as credible reports indicate increased deployment of Chinese troops and weaponry,” said a resolution by the Congress steering panel.

The party will also raise the issue of the differences between the judiciary and the government on the process of appointment of judges. “The premeditated attempt that is underway to de-legitimise the judiciary and orchestrate a confrontation between the executive and the judiciary is particularly alarming,” said party General-secretary K C Venugopal.

The recent cyberattack on the All India Institute of Medical Sciences will also be raised by the party.

Trinamool Congress leader and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced that she would hold a meeting of party MPS on December 7 to finalise the list of issues the party wants to raise.

Two Bills that are eagerly awaited — legislation on data protection and the Electricity Act (Amendment) Bill — are unlikely to be tabled in the winter session. The public consultation on the data protection law is expected to end in the third week of December and sources said the time left in the session might not be sufficient to discuss the new law.