Winter Session of Parliament begins day after Gujarat polling — from December 15 to January 5

The Winter Session of Parliament will commence a day after the second phase of polling for the Gujarat Assembly Elections. It will be held between December 15 and January 5.

Winter Session of Parliament from December 15 to January 5

The Winter Session of Parliament will be held between December 15 and January 5 (Express Photo/Ravi Kanojia)

The Winter Session of Parliament will be held between December 15 and January 5, the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA) confirmed on Friday. The 14-day session will commence a day after polling for the Gujarat Assembly elections concludes. The House will not meet on two days, December 24 and 25, for Christmas, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress leader in the Lok Sabha, said the party will decide which important issues need to be raised during the session. “Will decide on issues to be raised; there are issues like GST, demonetisation, J&K, terrorism and Hafiz Saeed set free by Pakistan court. Will raise important issues,” he said, reported ANI.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had previously confirmed that the government will ensure the session does not overlap with the election dates. Addressing a press conference in New Delhi, he had said, “We are going to ensure that a regular winter session is held but we will make sure that the parliament session and election dates don’t overlap.”

The Congress, however, accused the government of “shying away” from Parliament due to the polls to “hide its corruption and failures”. The Opposition party had also pointed out that the Winter Session had not been delayed in 2012, when Assembly elections were held in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh.

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While addressing the Congress Working Committee (CWC) earlier this week, party president Sonia Gandhi had targeted the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government for “sabotaging” the session in a bid to “escape” constitutional accountability ahead of the Gujarat polls.

The BJP had also criticised the Congress for its “concern about the dignity of Parliament”, questioning the party vice-president Rahul Gandhi on his attendance in the House.

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