India vs Bharat: The special session of parliament will be held from September 18 to 22
The special session of parliament will be held from September 18 to 22. Sources say the session will start in the old building of parliament, and be later moved to the new building on September 19.
The government, however, has not announced any agenda for the session yet.
Former Congress Chief Sonia Gandhi today wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, pointing out that no agenda had been listed for the special session of parliament.
"I must point out that this special session has been convened without any consultation with other political parties. None of us have any idea of its agenda. All we have been communicated is that all five days have been allocated for government business," Sonia Gandhi said in her letter today.
This comes a day after the use of "Bharat" - instead of "India" in official G20 Summit invitations sparked a buzz over the country's name change. Sources say the government may put forward a resolution to change the country's name later this month in the five-day special session of parliament.
Mrs Gandhi also urged the Prime Minister to have discussions on the Centre-state relationship, communalism and border conflict with China - during the special session.
"I earnestly hope that in a spirit of constructive cooperation, these issues will be taken up in the forthcoming special session," she said.
Addressing the media at the Congress headquarters, party general secretary Jairam Ramesh said this is the first time that no agenda has been discussed or listed in the business of the House.
"If there is no 'shehnai' of democracy in the mother of democracy, then what kind of democracy is this," Mr Ramesh asked.