Centre reaches out to Opposition, says Bihar results not a mandate to disrupt Parliament

Smarting from the Bihar poll debacle, the government on Monday reached out to the Opposition to pass key reform bills and urged them to not interpret the poll result as a ‘mandate to disrupt Parliament’, which is set to meet for its Winter Session between November 26 to December 23.

The Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs, headed by Home Minister Rajnath Singh, also took a decision on Monday to call a special two-day sitting of Parliament on the first two days of the session to commemorate the adoption of the Indian Constitution on November 26, 1949, and honour its architect, Dalit icon B R Ambedkar.

"The CCPA met Monday and decided to call the Winter Session from November 26, which will continue till December 23 depending on the exigencies of business," Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu told reporters after the meeting, which was attended by top leaders of the ruling alliance, including Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj could not attend the meeting.

Naidu said that a two-day special sitting of both the Houses will be held on November 26 and November 27 to commemorate the adoption of the Constitution.

"Since we are celebrating the birth centenary of Ambedkarji, we have decided to discuss in Parliament the commitment to the Constitution and the contribution of Ambedkar to it. Hence, there will be no Question Hour in the House for the first two days," Naidu said.

The decision comes at a time when the government is under attack from academicians and intellectuals on the issue of intolerance.

Meanwhile, talking about the Bihar assembly poll results, Naidu said that while he welcomes the popular mandate, he is 'disturbed' by media reports that the Opposition parties in Parliament will now be more emboldened to unite and stall the government’s Parliamentary agenda for the Winter Session.

“All concerned need to understand the Bihar verdict in the right perspective. People of Bihar want development just like people in the other states. To realise rapid economic growth, we need to have the right environment in place, which requires considered reforms. To interpret Bihar verdict in any other manner only amounts to questioning the wisdom of the people of the state. All parties have to understand it and enable Parliament to pass the reform measures. Bihar verdict is a clear statement of people’s aspirations. It should not be interpreted as a mandate to obstruct Parliament,” Naidu said.