Pralhad Joshi hopes opposition will extend full support for 'successful' Parliament session

Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi on Monday voiced hope that the Opposition will extend full support in achieving the same success rate like the previous session of Parliament.

"In the previous Parliament session, everyone has got the credit to run Parliament successfully especially the Opposition. I have a full hope that Opposition will extend us full support like last time," Joshi said while speaking to media persons before entering the Parliament.

He said that the Centre is ready to discuss and debate on every topic with the Opposition.

On being asked about the Opposition's appeal that former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah and former Union Minister P Chidambaram should be allowed to attend the winter session of Parliament, he said, "These are judicial concerns. We will see. They have raised the issue and Amit Shah (BJP president) has already given an answer."

As the winter session of the Parliament has begun today, the Opposition is all set to corner the Centre over the issues of economic slowdown, agrarian distress, unemployment and the proposed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (RCEP).

The opposition leaders may also question the government on the detention of Abdullah, who is under house arrest since the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir.

On Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a "wonderful interaction" with leaders and MPs across party lines.

This time, the government's key aim is to pave the way for the passage of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, which had lapsed in the last Parliament session following the dissolution of the Lok Sabha after severe criticism.

Under the bill, the legislation seeks to grant Indian citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Christians, Buddhists and Parsis from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan if they have fled their respective country due to religious persecution.