National

No decision as yet on end of session

NEW DELHI: There was no forward movement here on Thursday on any decision regarding the fate of the current session or dates for another session, but almost all sections of the House were one in expecting that it may be sudden death for the session on Friday.

Bharatiya Janata Party leaders said consultations had already taken place and with campaigning for the Assembly elections due to begin in right earnest after Deepavali, many leaders would not be able to attend the House. Santosh Gangwar, MP and former Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs, said consultations between the government and the BJP had already taken place on rescheduling the session. “It is now for the government to decide,” Mr. Gangwar said.

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has made it clear that it would oppose the government trying to “continue” the current session in December. The Left view is that there should be a proper and separate winter session of Parliament as was the normal practice.

In the House itself, the issue was raised. Communist Party of India MP Gurudas Das Gupta said there were “rumours that the House would be adjourned” on Friday. He objected to the House meeting for very few days this year though there were no unusual happenings that prevented the government from convening Parliament for longer sessions. He pointed out that even if a December session were to materialise, the number of sitting would be abysmally low, and there was no excuse for this.

The situation became more volatile when Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Vayalar Ravi offered an explanation by way of quoting rules that “allow” a six-month gap between sessions. He virtually threw the issue back at the Opposition when he added that in the last four years (since the United Progressive Alliance government has been in office) “39 per cent of session time” had been lost as a result of disruptions.

Outside the House, several MPs pointed out that it had already been agreed to give an extra day holiday on October 27 (Deepavali is celebrated in the north on Tuesday, October 28). The House would, therefore, not convene from October 25 to 28, including the weekend and Deepavali, and after that, several parties, including the BJP and the Congress, would be in the midst of campaigns for six Assembly elections.

It is keeping all this in mind that MPs are virtually reconciled to an early and sudden end of this session on Friday. But there was no official word.

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