State govt may defer winter session by a week

“The Legislative Council elections will be held on December 10 and the government won’t be able to make announcements due to the code of conduct. Besides, the Chief Minister has undergone surgery and he may need some time to recover,” said a cabinet minister requesting anonymity.

The government will also take into consideration the number of Covid cases post-Diwali as the government has granted more relaxations in the last month.

The Business Advisory Committee meeting is likely to be held this week and the final decision will be taken in it, said sources.

The winter session was scheduled to be held from December 7 in Nagpur. The two-day monsoon session of the state legislature was held on July 5-6 in Mumbai.

Last week, the Election Commission of India announced elections for six seats of the Maharashtra Legislative Council that will be conducted from five local authorities constituencies. Two seats from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation and one each from Kolhapur, Dhule-Nandurbar, Akola-Buldhana-Washim, Nagpur local authorities’ constituencies will be elected to the Legislative Council.

Sources said the government may not be able to defer the winter session of the state legislature to January. “Firstly, as per the norms, the duration between two sessions should not be more than six months. So, the session should be held before January. Also, the code of conduct for the local bodies polls will come into force in the first or second week of January. So, it will be difficult to hold the session and make any announcements in January,” said an official.

The election to the BMC along with more than 10 civic bodies and over 25 Zilla Parishads, which is considered a “mini assembly” in the state’s political parlance, is likely to be held early next year.