An aggressive Opposition, on Tuesday, demanded a detailed discussion on all major issues, including price rise and the ”misuse” of Central agencies, during the winter session of Parliament beginning on Wednesday.

At an all-party meeting ahead of the Parliament session, the Opposition leaders also sought a thorough discussion on ”hurried” appointments to some key positions.

The meeting was chaired by Defence Minister and Deputy Leader of the Lok Sabha Rajnath Singh. Commerce Minister and Leader of the Rajya Sabha Piyush Goyal, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi and Ministers of State for Parliamentary Affairs V Muralidharan and Arjun Ram Meghwal represented the government at the meeting.

Top Opposition leaders, including Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury from the Congress, Sudip Bandyopadhyay and Derek O’Brien from TMC, Tiruchi Shiva and TR Baalu From DMK, Pashupati Paras from the Lok Jansakti Party, Vandana Chavan from NCP, Farooq Abdullah from National Conference and Binoy Viswam from CPI were among those present at the meeting.

While both the Congress and the TMC raised the issue of rampant unemployment, the Congress also attacked the government over the issue of ”hurried” appointments. The Opposition parties also demanded that more time be given to them during discussions and that their voices should not be muzzled.

The parliamentary affairs minister said, “The government is ready for discussion and debate on all issues as per the rules and as per the advice of the Chair.”

Several Opposition parties, including Congress, said that it was important to consider the festival period before announcing the session dates. Congress Lok Sabha leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said, “We must consider the sentiments of our Christian brothers and sisters just the way we celebrate Hindu and Muslim festivals. The government should have considered the upcoming Christmas festival dates before announcing the session dates.”

Responding to this, Prahlad Joshi said, “We have taken everything into consideration before announcing the session dates and during Christmas, it’s a weekend so Parliament won’t be functioning.”

The winter session of Parliament will begin on 7 December and conclude on 29 December. The session will consider 16 new bills, including those proposing a globally compatible trademark registration system, repeal of redundant laws and tighter regulation of multi-state cooperative societies. Several Bills already passed by either of the Houses or have been reviewed by Parliamentary committees will also be taken up for passage in the session.

As per the schedules notified by the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, the government will also table supplementary demands for grants, seeking permission for spending more than originally planned for the current financial year.