AMN / New Delhi
The government has decided to convene the Winter Session of Parliament from 15 December, a day after the second phase of the Gujarat assembly elections, the Committee on Parliamentary Affairs (CCPA) said on Friday.
“Winter Session of Parliament to be held from December 15 to January 5,” said CCPA.
Earlier, the Congress had raised concerns over an “inordinate delay” in convening the winter session, and urged President Ram Nath Kovind to direct the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led central government to summon Parliament at the earliest.
The Congress Parliamentary Party, in a letter addressed to the President on 21 November, said the winter session of Parliament was being delayed by the government “without ascribing any justification for doing so”.
Parliamentary affairs minister Ananth Kumar had on Tuesday rejected the Congress’s allegations of “delay”, citing precedents of the winter session held in December in 2008 and 2013 during UPA-II rule.
Kumar alleged that the Congress was levelling allegations out of desperation and frustration as it would be routed in assembly elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh.
The winter session is traditionally convened in the third week of November and lasts till the third week of December.