Sonia Gandhi 'politicising functioning of parliament': Pralhad Joshi responds to Cong leader's letter to PM Modi

Sonia Gandhi has been politicising the functioning of parliament, said Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi Wednesday, slamming the letter sent by the Congress leader to PM Modi saying that no agenda was listed for the special Parliament session from 18 to 22 September.Replying to Gandhi's letter addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Joshi said: "It is unfortunate that you (Sonia Gandhi) are trying to politicise the functioning of Parliament and creating a controversy where none existed."In her letter, Gandhi said no agenda has been listed for the special Parliament session and raised nine issues, including violence in Manipur, for discussion during the five-day session.Making Gandhi aware of the parliamentary traditions, Joshi in his letter to Gandhi said: “The session has been called following the laid down rules and regulations... perhaps you are not paying attention to the conventions. Before calling a session, consultations are never done with other political parties and nor do we discuss the issues. We do call leaders of all parties after the President announces the date for the new session for a meeting in which we discuss the issues and business that will taken up during the session.”In his reply letter to Gandhi, the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs said, "Never before has the agenda been shared while calling a session of Parliament."Referring to the issues raised by Gandhi, Joshi said: "Most of the issues mentioned by you were discussed in detail during the no-confidence motion debate held recently and the government had responded to them.""Our government is always ready for debate on any issue," he added.The list of business will be announced at the right time as per the established practice.In her letter to PM Modi, Gandhi said, "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."With inputs from agencies