The winter session of parliament, which will run till December 13, starts today amid concerns over the slowing economy, rising unemployment, farmers' distress and the continued detention of political leaders in Jammu and Kashmir. It also takes place against the backdrop of an unstable political situation in Maharashtra, where the ruling BJP has fallen out with long-time ally Shiv Sena and looks set to be unseated by an unlikely Sena-Congress-NCP alliance. Among the key bills to be discussed this session is the Citizenship Amendment Bill, which the government was unable to pass in its previous tenure. This will be a landmark session - the 250th sitting of the Rajya Sabha. On Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he looked forward to a "productive parliament session where people-centric and development oriented issues would be discussed".
