Rajya Sabha to begin constitution debate today

The Rajya Sabha will take up a discussion on the 75 years of the Indian Constitution on Monday. The two-day debate will begin at 11am cancelling the normal business of the House.

Sources tell ET that from the ruling party, Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman will initiate the debate and Union environment minister Bhupender Yadav will be the last speaker on Tuesday concluding the debate. As per sources, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will not participate in the debate in the Upper House. Apart from JP Nadda and Yadav, Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri will take part in the debate. Four other BJP members, including Sudhanshu Trivedi, Surendra Nagar, Ghanshyam Tiwadi and Brijlal will also be the party speakers during the debate in two days.

Sources tell ET that Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge will be the first speaker from the Opposition side to start the debate. Congress members Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Randeep Surjewala, Mukul Wasnik and a few others will also take part in the debate. Kharge and Singhvi will be the speakers from the Congress on Monday.


Trinamool, which has 12 members in the RS, has decided to give a chance to nine to 10 members speaking for a few minutes on different aspects of the Constitution. Similarly, the BJD, which has seven members in the House, has lined up five members to speak during the Constitution discussion. BJD MP Sulata Deo is likely to be the party's first speaker.

Senior leader and Samajwadi Party member Ram Gopal Yadav will be the lone speaker from the party and RJD member Manoj Jha will be the only speaker from his party. The SP could also give some time from its quota to independent member Kapil Sibal who will participate in the discussion.

Among NDA allies, JDU leader Sanjay Jha will be the lone speaker from the party in the Upper House. Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) leader Upendra Kushwaha will also participate in the discussion.

The two days discussion will end with YADAV'S reply on Tuesday evening. The BJP and Congress have issued a whip to party MPs to remain present during the two-day discussion on the Constitution.