Winter Session of Parliament begins; here are glimpses from Day 1

The three-week-long Winter Session of Parliament commenced Wednesday. Ahead of the session, Prime Minister Narendra Modi appealed to all parties to cooperate to ensure a productive session. (AP)

Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, on his first day as Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, paid tribute to Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar at the Parliament complex. (PTI)

Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar with Union Ministers Pralhad Joshi, Jitendra Singh, Arjun Ram Meghwal and V Murleedhar Rao after paying tribute to Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar at Parliament complex. (PTI)

On the legislative agenda of the government would be 25 Bills – 16 of them new, seven pending ones and two finance Bills. The session will have 17 sittings over 23 days before it concludes on December 29. (PTI)

Home Minister Amit Shah (in pic), Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari were present in the House on Day 1, along with Opposition leaders including Sonia Gandhi, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, T R Baalu, Sudip Bandyopadhyay and Farooq Abdullah among others. (PTI)

The Opposition has identified a raft of issues including the alleged misuse of investigation agencies to corner the government. Here, Farooq Abdulla is seen entering the Parliament complex. (PTI)

Leaders of several Opposition parties attended a meeting convened by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge to evolve a joint strategy for the Winter Session of Parliament. Left parties, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Trinamool Congress (TMC), Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), NC and the RSP were represented in the meeting convened before the session commenced. In pic: DMK's Kannimozhi at Parliament House. (PTI)

Congress president and Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge also congratulated Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar on behalf of the members of Opposition for taking responsibility for the country's second-largest constitutional post. "Today we have got the opportunity to welcome you as Speaker of Rajya Sabha. Rajya Sabha is called the chamber of ideas," he said. (PTI)