Early elections, UCC or One Nation, One Election? Speculations rife about the special session of Parliament

A day after the Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs announced the five day special session of Parliament, the Centre formed a committee to look into the possibility of 'One Nation, One Election'

For the first time in nine years of Modi-led government, the Parliament will have a full-fledged session of five days with both Houses, over and above the usual Budget, Monsoon and Winter sessions of Parliament. But why, questioned the opposition leaders, the entire political lobby as soon as Pralhad Joshi, the Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, made the announcement on August 31.

A view of the Parliament House complex .IANS

The special session of Parliament would be held from September 18 to 22 and the minister was immediately and widely quoted as saying that "important items" were on the session's agenda, which the government would circulate shortly. "Amid Amrit Kaal looking forward to having fruitful discussions and debate in Parliament," he tweeted on X. The special session will be held within days after the G20 Summit in Delhi on September 9 and 10.

Speculations rife in the absence of no official word

While the Constitution of India does not define a 'special session' of the Parliament, the term usually refers to sessions the government has convened in the past, mostly to commemorate parliamentary or national milestones. However, lack of official word on the agenda further fuelled the speculations, given that all the political parties are gearing up for assembly polls in five states later this year. The announcement, as expected, led to political furore, sarcasm, speculations on social media and media channels.

Prior to this the current government had convened a special joint sitting of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha to mark the midnight GST roll out in June, 2017.

Early Lok Sabha elections in mind?

The government's legislative plans for the session can't not include the upcoming assembly elections in five states, tweeted many opposition leaders. Does the agenda pertain to UCC, increased seats in Parliament, early dissolution of current Parliament? A day after the announcement for the special session, the Union government constituted a committee headed by former President Ram Nath Kovind to explore the possibility of 'One Nation, One Election', which means holding simultaneous Lok Sabha and state Assembly elections. It is widely believed that the Centre will table the 'One Nation, One Election' Bill in Parliament during the special five-day session. The list of speculations also includes a discussion on the Centre's recent achievements, including the G20 Summit which will have been just concluded by then.

Opposition leaders take a dig

"We hope the PM will allow a discussion on China," said Lok Sabha MP Asaduddin Owaisi while criticizing the move and speculating about the business likely to take place during the five days. Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, immediately after the announcement was shared, said that the government has gone into panic mode. "I think maybe it is an indicator of a little panic. The same type of panic that happened when I spoke in Parliament House, the panic that suddenly made them revoke my Parliament membership," he said, while addressing a press conference in Mumbai.