Congress deputy leader in the Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi on Sunday alleged that the ruling party under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants to finish off democracy, derail Parliament and bury parliamentary traditions. He said at the all-party meeting convened by the government ahead of Parliament's Winter session, the Congress demanded a discussion on national security, air pollution, ensuring purity of voter list, farmers' issues and foreign policy. "It seems the government, under the leadership of the prime minister and the home minister, is looking to finish off India's democracy and parliamentary traditions," he told reporters after the all-party meeting. Gogoi said his party demanded that there be a discussion on security in the country, including national security in the wake of the Delhi blast. It seems the government does not want short duration discussion on national security, he claimed. “The second is the security of democracy. The EC before, during and after elections is acting in a biased manner. There should be a discussion on the purity of the voter list,” he said. Gogoi said the Congress also demanded a discussion on the issue of air pollution. “Fourth is economic security. Farmers are not getting the right prices….also security against natural disasters,” he said. “We also raised the issue of foreign policy. India is formulating its foreign policy on the basis of other countries. Someone does not like us buying oil from Russia. Another country is investing in its defence and we are not ready,” he said. Gogoi said the opposition is united, and does not want the temple of democracy to be used only to sing “paeans of just one person”. It seems the government wants to derail Parliament and bury parliamentary traditions, he alleged.
An all-party meeting was convened by the government on Sunday ahead of the winter session of Parliament, which is set to begin on December 1. The meeting began at 11 am on Sunday. The Winter Session of Parliament will begin on December 1 and will continue till December 19. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju met the floor leaders of political parties of both Houses of Parliament. Union Ministers Rajnath Singh, Kiren Rijiju, Arjun Ram Meghwal, JP Nadda and others took part in the all-party meeting. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said that they would listen to the opposition parties. Kiren Rijiju said, "There's an all-party meeting today. We'll sit with all the leaders of all the parties and listen to them. We won't be saying much on behalf of the government today. We'll listen to the opposition parties. There's a Business Advisory Committee meeting in the evening. The Lok Sabha meeting is at 4 pm, and the Rajya Sabha's at 5 pm. We'll present our business at the committee meetings." "Since it's the winter session, we hope everyone works with a cool head and avoids heated debates. There will be a debate in Parliament, and I hope there will be no disturbances. If we work with a cool head, it'll be beneficial for the country, and the Parliament session will run smoothly," he added. Senior Congress MP Jairam Ramesh, TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee, Samajwadi Party MP Ram Gopal Yadav, AIADMK MP M Thambi Durai and other leaders participated in the all-party meeting. Congress MP Pramod Tiwari said, "Certainly, when the country's democracy is under threat, when democracy is being murdered, when votes are being stolen, then that issue will be raised. Delhi bomb blast, then there is the issue of restoring the democratic rights of Jammu and Kashmir. There is a diversion from the established Foreign policy." Parliament is set to have 15 sittings across 19 days. Private Members' Bills are set to be taken for consideration on December 5 and 19, and Private Members' resolutions on December 12.