Two days before Parliament’s Winter Session is to begin on Monday, the Government held discussions with leaders of all political parties on Saturday and offered to debate all issues, but the session will be stormy, coming just after the results of Assembly elections in four major States.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said the all-party meeting, chaired by Defence Minister and Lok Sabha Deputy Leader Rajnath Singh, was attended by 30 leaders from 23 parties. The session will run for 19 days and have 15 sittings.

“Government is fully ready for structured debates and has requested the Opposition to let the House function smoothly,” said Joshi after the meeting. He said the government is keen on having fruitful discussions in the Winter Session but parties need to “follow procedure” for a “structured” debates on any issue.

He said: “There were suggestions for Short Duration discussions, Calling Attentions and Zero Hour mentions. We conduct Zero Hour in both Houses almost regularly. We have held Short Duration discussions also. We have said that we are ready for discussion, but they will also have to follow the procedure for a structured debate.”

“If you want, you should allow atmosphere for structured debate, procedures should be followed; as far as government is concerned, we are ready. Last time also, Manipur notices were given, we were ready for a discussion in both Houses,” he said.

Joshi said “permission of the Lok Sabha Speaker and the Chairman Rajya Sabha has to prevail. We are ready to discussion. This is the last session of the 17th Lok Sabha. We are fully ready; we are also keen to discuss what we did in the last five years and our achievements, we want the House should function, and smoothly.”

Asked about the Ethics Committee report in the Mahua Moitra case, the Parliamentary Affairs Minister said the House will abide by the precedent that has been followed on ethics and the Speaker will decide on the matter in the House.

“The precedent that has been adopted so far on Ethics will be followed. There has been a discussion on that in the Ethics Committee and the Speaker will decide on what will be done in Parliament,” Joshi said.

Talking about the agenda before the session, the Minister said “We are bringing in 19 Bills and two are financial items. There are a total of 21 items. There are three Bills from the Home Ministry. There is a bill on Central University, Constitutional order.”

The three Home Ministry Bills are the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and the Bhartiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, which are to replace the Indian Penal Code, the Criminal Procedure Code and the Indian Evidence Act.

Asked about the next Budget Session in February, the Parliamentary Affairs Minister said it may be a short one, of just a week or so, for a Vote on Account, but the call on this will be taken by the Finance Ministry.

Referring to the Mahua Moitra case, Congress MP Pramod Tiwari, said after attending the all-party meeting “Those who are elected by people should not be deprived of their membership by a committee. This is a matter of discussion. The Congress is opposed to denial of rights.”

RSP leader N K Pramachandran said “Unemployment, price rise, Israel-Palestine conflict have to be discussed in the House and most of the members have raised objections against imposing Hindi in the Criminal laws by giving new names to the Indian Penal Code, Criminal Procedure Code as well as Indian Evidence Act.”

Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) MP Mahua Maji said she proposed the Van Adhikar Amendment Bill should discussed again as it was passed hurriedly.