Dec 15 to Jan 5: Winter session dates are out

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, November 24

The winter session of Parliament will begin on December 15, a day after the second phase of voting to the Gujarat Assembly is over on December 14. It will conclude on January 5.

The Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs today recommended that the session be held between December 15 and January 5, Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Ananth Kumar said. “We request and seek cooperation from all parties for the smooth functioning of both Houses to make this session fruitful,” he added.

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Justifying the decision to delay the session, Kumar said there had been several precedents in the past, including under governments headed by Congress Prime Ministers Indira Gandhi, PV Narasimha Rao and Manmohan Singh.

Recounting “several instances in the past” where session dates were changed to avoid an overlap with the elections, BJP leaders claimed that it was not a new practice.

On whether MPs would be asked to be present on January 1, Kumar said parliamentarians were supposed to be present on all working days, including New Year’s Day.

Important Bills are expected to be introduced, including one on triple talaq and the National Commission on Backward Classes, the minister said.  The session will also take up Bills to replace ordinances — The Goods and Services Tax (Compensation to States), 2017; The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) and The Indian Forest (Amendment).

The Opposition had attacked the government for delaying the winter session, claiming it was being done to avoid a debate on scams, including the Rafale deal, ahead of the Gujarat Assembly election.

BJP sources, however, said it would have been pointless to hold the session while elections were on because most leaders would be busy campaigning.