The winter session of parliament commencing on Monday is likely to be a stormy affair as the Congress-led opposition is likely to target the government over the US prosecutors' bribery charges against the Adani Group.
At an all-party meeting on Sunday, the Congress has asked the Centre to allow a discussion on the Adani issue “on priority” besides a slew of other topics including the incidents of fresh violence in Manipur.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh chaired the meeting attended by forty-two leaders from 30 parties. BJP President J.P. Nadda, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, DMK's Tiruchi Siva, Akali Dal's Harsimrat Kaur Badal and LJP (Ram Vilas) MP Arun Bharti were among the attendees.
Industrialist Gautam Adani has been charged by US prosecutors for being part of a scheme to bribe Indian officials with USD 265 million (roughly Rs 2,200 crore) in exchange for favorable terms for solar power contracts in four Indian states. The Adani Group has dismissed the charges as “baseless”.
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Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Pramod Tiwari said the the issue should be discussed on priority since it involves the country’s economic and security interests.
“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,” he said.
The Manipur issue and Waqf (Amendment) Bill are among the other issues on which the house is likely to witness heated exchanges.
The government has listed 16 bills for consideration in the Winter Session scheduled to be held from November 25 to December 20.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said the government has appealed to all the parties to ensure smooth conduct of business in both houses of parliament.
Talking to reporters after the meeting, Rijiju said the matters to be taken up for discussion will be decided by their authorised committees with the consent of the respective Chair.