The winter session of the Parliament will begin from December 4 and will conclude on December 22. The government has listed around 18 bills for the upcoming session. Reports said that the list includes two to extend provisions of the Women’s Reservation Act to Jammu and Kashmir and Puducherry and three to replace the criminal laws. 

In addition, the government has also listed the first batch of supplementary demands for grants for the year 2023-24 for presentation, discussion, and voting during the session. Apart from these, three important bills which seek to replace the IPC, CrPC, and the Evidence Act may be taken up for consideration during the session. Meanwhile, an all-party meeting will be held on December 2. The meeting has been called by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Prahlad Joshi on behalf of the government.

Notably, the winter session of the parliament will take place a day after the results for the assembly polls in the five states including Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Mizoram, and Telangana, will be declared. As per the bulletin issued by the Lok Sabha Secretariat, the government is looking forward to initiate a bill that seeks to increase the strength of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly from 107 to 114 in an effort to provide representation to Kashmiri migrants, displaced persons from Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir and Scheduled Tribes.

Additionally, the winter session of the Parliament is also likely to discuss the report of the Ethics Committee on the cash for query allegations against Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra. The committee has recommended her expulsion. In a 6:4 verdict, the ethics panel adopted a 500-page report on cash-for-query allegations against the Trinamool MP, recommending her expulsion from the lower house of the Parliament with the support of six members. 

Aparajita Sarangi, Rajdeep Roy, Sumedhanand Saraswati, Preneet Kaur, Vinod Sonkar, and Hemant Godse supported the adoption of the report. Danish Ali, V Vaithilingam, PR Natarajan, Giridhari Yadav opposed it.

With Brazil prepared to take over the presidency from December 1, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asserted that India achieved the extraordinary during its G20 presidency as it revitalised multilateralism, amplified the voice of the Global South, championed development, and fought for the empowerment of women everywhere.

The Prime Minister underlined that the elite group’s journey under India and expressed confidence that his country hands over the charge with the conviction that our collective steps for people, planet, peace, and prosperity, will resonate for years to come.

In his opinion piece that appeared in multiple newspapers, PM Modi said that India’s approach was defined by being inclusive, ambitious, action-oriented, and decisive and the New Delhi Leaders’ Declaration (NDLD), unanimously adopted by all G20 members, is testimony to India’s commitment to deliver on these principles.

PM Modi stated that assuming the G20 chair, India sought to offer the world an alternative to the status quo, a shift from a GDP-centric to human-centric progress. He added that India aimed to remind the world of what unites them, rather than what divides them. He also noted that the global conversation had to evolve and the interests of the few had to give way to the aspirations of the many. This required a fundamental reform of multilateralism, he remarked.

He underscored that the first-of-its-kind Voice of the Global South Summit, convened by India in two editions, heralded a new dawn for multilateralism, asserting that India mainstreamed the Global South’s concerns in the international discourse and has ushered in an era where developing countries take their rightful place in shaping the global narrative.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi added that at the critical midpoint of the 2030 agenda, India delivered the G20 2023 Action Plan to Accelerate Progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), taking a cross-cutting, action-oriented approach to interconnected issues, including health, education, gender equality and environmental sustainability. He continued that a key area driving this progress is the robust Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI).

He said that the leaders’ declaration underscores India’s commitment to climate justice and equity, urging substantial financial and technological support from the Global North. Narendra Modi noted that for the first time there was a recognition of the quantum jump needed in the magnitude of development financing, moving from billions to trillions of dollars. Furthermore, he mentioned that the G20 acknowledged that developing countries required USD 5.9 trillion to fulfil their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) by 2030.

He also underlined that the G20 stressed on the importance of better, larger, and more effective Multilateral Development Banks. The Prime Minister said that concurrently, India is taking a leading role in UN reforms, particularly in the restructuring of principal organs like the UN Security Council, that will ensure a more equitable global order.

He noted that gender equality took centre stage, culminating in the formation of a dedicated Working Group on the Empowerment of Women next year. He continued that during its G20 presidency, India led deliberations on geopolitical issues and their impact on economic growth and development. 

In addition, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also asserted that terrorism and the senseless killing of civilians are unacceptable, and they must address it with a policy of zero tolerance, embody humanitarianism over hostility and reiterate that this is not an era of war.

As the people of Telangana commenced voting to elect the 119 members of the state, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that only a corruption free and pro poor government can work selflessly for the prosperity of the state. 

Taking to social media platform X, formerly Twitter, Amit Shah appealed to the people of Telangana to come out in large numbers to form a government for whom the priority is empowerment and not appeasement. 

Former Congress President and Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi also urged voters to vote for the construction of golden Telangana and make Congress win. He mentioned that today the people of Telangana are going to win on drums. On the social media platform X, Rahul Gandhi also shared a video of him in a roadshow.  

In the social media post, Rahul Gandhi wrote that today the Prajala will defeat Dorala, apparently stating that the government of the people will defeat the government of nobles. Calling the people of Telangana and his brothers and sisters, the senior Congress leader urged them to step out and vote in large numbers. 

Meanwhile, the Congress has lodged a formal complaint with the Election Commission against BRS MLA K Kavitha, accusing her of violating the Model Code of Conduct by allegedly urging the public to vote for BRS. Reports said that the complaint was announced in a press note by senior Telangana Congress leader G NIranjan. As per the complaint, K Kavitha, after casting her vote at the DAV School in Banjara hills polling station, violated the Election Code by appealing to the people to vote for BRS. 

There are nearly 3.26 crore eligible voters in Telangana, who would exercise their franchise in 35,655 polling stations set up across the state. The electoral process will conclude at 5 pm in the state. The counting of the votes will take place on December 3.