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While the ruling party has time for more than five hours out of the 12 hours to speak, the saffron party has appointed 10 speakers to talk on the debate on behalf of the BJP.
It is learnt through sources that the longest speech in the constitution debate on behalf of the ruling party will be made by Rajnath Singh followed by Rijiju. (Image: PTI)
On Friday, Lok Sabha will begin the debate on 75 years of India’s Constitution after the completion of the Question Hour at about 12 noon. The business advisory committee has already allotted a time discussion period of 12 hours on the subject, which is expected to end in the evening of Saturday, December 14, with the speech of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who will reply to the debate.
While the ruling party has time for more than five hours out of the 12 hours to speak, the saffron party has appointed 10 speakers to talk on the debate on behalf of the BJP.
Leading the debate from the front will be Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, who is also the Deputy Leader of the Lok Sabha and is expected to be the first speaker on the debate on behalf of the treasury benches. Apart from Rajnath Singh, another union minister who will intervene in the debate will be Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju. Rijiju is also the Minister for Minority Affairs in the Modi government. The party has also made a thoughtful choice of the other speakers for the debate with the list including former law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and former minister of state for justice PP Chaudhary, who is also a constitutional expert. The party has also decided to field retired Calcutta High Court judge and now member of Parliament from Bengal Justice Abhijeet Ganguly to speak on the debate.
Veteran Parliamentarian Jagdambika Pal and experienced parliamentarian Bhartruhari Mahtab will also be speaking on behalf of the BJP in the debate.
Second time MP from Bengaluru South, and presently the Chief of the Youth Wing of the BJP, Tejaswi Surya, will also be participating in the debate on behalf of his party.
Among the women MPs who have been given a chance to speak on the debate are D Purandeshwari and IAS officer turned politician Aparajita Sarangi.
It is learnt through sources that the longest speech in the debate on behalf of the ruling party will be made by Rajnath Singh followed by Rijiju. The other speakers will get equal time. The saffron party has also ensured participation and time allocation to its alliance partners for the debate. Two speakers are expected to participate in the debate on behalf of the principal alliance partner Telugu Desam Party (TDP). Participation of two MPs will also be seen on behalf of the Janata Dal United (JDU).
On Saturday, the debate will begin at 11 am and will continue till the last speaker speaks after which Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to begin his reply at around 5 pm to culminate the debate as India marks its 75th year of Constitution and opposition parties, especially the Congress, had asked the Lok Sabha speaker to have a debate on the issue in both houses.
The debate on the same issue will begin in the Rajya Sabha from Monday, and is expected to end on Tuesday evening. However, in the Rajya Sabha, it is expected that Union Home Minister Amit Shah will be the first speaker on behalf of the ruling party. The debate, however, will end with the reply by the Leader of the House, JP Nadda, who is also the BJP national president and Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare and Chemical and Fertilisers in the Modi government.
Even in the Rajya Sabha, a list is being prepared and one can expect intervention by a couple of union ministers amongst other speakers. It is learnt that the ones who can intervene can be the likes of Hardeep Singh Puri and Nirmala Sitharaman among others.
The ongoing winter session of Parliament began on November 25 and on November 26, a special programme was organised in the central hall to mark Constitution Day as India’s constitution turns 75. During the function, President Droupadi Murmu addressed the joint session of Parliament and speeches were also made by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar on the occasion.
