Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday called upon all political parties to work in the larger interest of the nation without any bias. “When we come to Parliament, we should forget paksh (treasury) and v ipaksh (opposition). We should think about issues with a ‘ nishpaksh (impartial) spirit’ and work in the larger interest of the nation,” Modi said addressing the media outside Parliament before the commencement of the first session of the 17th Lok Sabha.
The first session of the newly constituted Lower House will continue till July 26.
The Prime Minister also underlined the importance of opposition in parliamentary democracy. He expressed hope that the opposition will play an active role and accordingly participate in the House proceedings. “The opposition need not worry about their numbers in the Lok Sabha,” he said. This will be for the second term when not a single opposition party has got 10 per cent (54) of the total strength which means no opposition leader can technically be conferred the Leader of Opposition (LoP) title. LoP is given the rank of a Cabinet Minister and she/he can automatically be part of key committees.
Modi expressed happiness in the increased number of women Parliamentarians in the 17th Lok Sabha. A record number of 78 women were elected as MPs, which is 14 per cent of the strength of the House. The 16th Lok Sabha had 62 women MPs. The Lok Sabha has 300 first-time MPs and 197 MPs who have been re-elected for a second consecutive term.
The session will provide 30 sittings spread over 40 days in Lok Sabha and 27 sittings spread over 37 days in the Rajya Sabha. The session will mainly be devoted to oath taking, election of Speaker, the Motion of Thanks on the President’s address, Financial Business relating to Union Budget for 2019-20. However, time will also be provided for the transaction of essential Legislative and Non-Legislative business during the session.