Agnipath, inflation: Govt, Oppn set to clash over key issues in Parliament today

The government proposes to introduce 32 bills during the 18 sittings of Parliament scheduled over 26 days of the monsoon session

The monsoon session of the Parliament that is set to commence at 11am on Monday amid calls to the Opposition to ensure a fruitful session, a reference to the Opposition parties gearing up to corner the Centre over multiple issues including the Agnipath military recruitment scheme, inflation and unemployment.

Ahead of the monsoon session, Rajya Sabha chairman Venkaiah Naidu asked political parties to ensure a “meaningful and productive session”as a “farewell gift” to him. His term ends on August 10. (HT File Photo)

The start of the session also coincides with the voting for the presidential election. National Democratic Alliance’s (NDA) presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu and joint opposition nominee Yashwant Sinha are the two contesting candidates for election to the Office of the President. Murmu, who is widely expected to win, told an NDA meeting on Sunday that her candidature has sent a positive message among tribal communities and women, who are excited at the prospect of a woman from a marginalised tribe occupying the highest constitutional office in the country.

During the scheduled 18 sittings over 26 days, the government is set to introduce 32 Bills, out of which 14 are ready.

News agency ANI said the Rajya Sabha is scheduled to take up the ‘Weapons of Mass Destruction and their Delivery System (Prohibition of Unlawful Activities) Amendment Bill, 2022’ on Monday. The bill, which will be piloted by external affairs minister S Jaishankar, seeks to ban funding of weapons of mass destruction and to allow the Centre to freeze, seize or attach financial assets to people engaged in these activities.

In the Lok Sabha, the government is set to introduce the Family Courts (Amendment) Bill to set up family courts for settlements of marriage-related disputes in Nagaland and Himachal Pradesh and the Indian Antarctic Bill, 2022

The Congress has said that it wants a “smooth conduct of business of the House, so that all important issues of public interest can be raised and addressed in Parliament” but demanded that “more time be devoted to non-government business in the form of Short Duration Discussions, Calling Attention motions, special mentions, etc”.

Four Lok Sabha members Shiromani Akali Dal’s Simranjit Singh Mann, Bharatiya Janata Party’s Ghanshyam Singh Lodhi and Dinesh Lal Yadav, and Trinamool Congress’ Shatrughan Sinha will also take the oath.