The Congress Working Committee (CWC) on Saturday condemned the government for the mystery over the real agenda of the special session of Parliament, declaring that one bill that has been listed is aimed at destroying the independence of the Election Commission.

The CWC adopted a resolution that said: “Parliamentary debate and scrutiny have all but disappeared and far-reaching legislation is hurriedly pushed through without proper scrutiny and discussion. The Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment etc) Bill introduced in Parliament will severely compromise the independence of the Election Commission to conduct free and fair elections.”

The resolution added: “A special session of Parliament is called all of a sudden. The Chairperson of the Congress Parliamentary Party Sonia Gandhi wrote to the Prime Minister identifying nine pressing issues of public concern and importance that need to be debated in this special session. The CWC also demands that the Women’s Reservation Bill be passed during the special session.”

The working committee, the party’s highest decision-making body, and senior leaders like Sonia Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge whole-heartedly supported the INDIA initiative and sent out a firm message that it has to be sustained.

The resolution said: “The CWC whole-heartedly welcomes the continuing consolidation of INDIA. This has already rattled the Prime Minister and the BJP. The CWC reiterates the Congress party’s resolve to make the INDIA initiative an ideological and electoral success so that our country is freed from divisive and polarising politics, the forces of social equity and justice are strengthened, and the people get a government that is responsible, responsive, sensitive, transparent and accountable.”

Pointing out the failure to conduct the decennial Census, due in 2021, the CWC said: “It is a national and an international shame. One of the consequences is that an estimated 14 crore of the poorest Indians are denied their entitlement to food rations since ration cards are issued on the basis of the 2011 Census. The CWC also underlines the stubborn refusal of the government to conduct a caste census. This refusal in the face of a universal demand has exposed the BJP’s lack of commitment to social and economic justice and its bias against the backward classes, Dalits and tribal people. In this context, the CWC also calls for increasing the existing upper limit of reservations for scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and OBCs.”

The CWC also rejected the call for a new Constitution and the “mischievous argument” that the basic structure of the Constitution can be changed. It reiterated the party’s demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to look into the affairs of the Adani group.

The CWC said: “the ‘One Nation, One Election’ proposal is yet another brazen attack on the federal structure of the country.