Winter Session of Parliament Starts Today: Here’s What To Expect

The Winter Session of Parliament will have 20 sittings spread over a period of 29 days between 11 Dec and 8 January.

The Winter Session of Parliament, which starts today, 12 December, will have 20 sittings spread over a period of 29 days between 11 December and 8 January.

(File Photo: IANS)

Rajya Sabha chairperson M Venkaiah Naidu on Monday, 11 December, met floor leaders of various parties ahead of the Winter Session of Parliament and urged them to “aid, assist and advise” him for a smooth session.

The Winter Session of Parliament, which starts today, 12 December, will have 20 sittings spread over a period of 29 days between 11 December and 8 January.

Around 31 leaders of the ruling and Opposition parties, who attended the meeting convened by Naidu, assured their cooperation for a productive Session of Rajya Sabha and sought equitable allocation of time.

The Rajya Sabha would be adjourned for the day on the first day after obituary references for former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Leader of the House Arun Jaitley and Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha Gulam Nabi Azad on Monday sought equitable allocation of time for the government's legislative proposals and the issues that Opposition seeks to raise in the House.

Jaitely said the government was willing to discuss any issue if time was properly allocated for both the government and the Opposition, while Azad said the Opposition wanted the House to function and bills to be passed.

It was agreed in the meeting that both the sides will address each others’ concern while allocating time for the legislative and other businesses in the meeting of the Business Advisory Committee to be held on Wednesday, 13 December.

What To Expect?

On its part, the ruling BJP is expected to highlight the government managing to bring alleged middleman in the Rs 3,600 crore AgustaWestland chopper deal, Christian Michel, from the UAE as well as successful pursuing of the case for extradition of fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya in a UK court.

The infighting in the Central Bureau of Investigation after which its Director Alok Verma and Special Director Rakesh Asthana were sent on leave by the government and the issue of alleged misuse of probe agencies including the CBI are also likely to be raised by the Opposition.

There is consensus among opposition parties that the assault on institutions such as the RBI must be stopped, Congress president Rahul Gandhi had said.

The Opposition parties have also said that they will press for a joint parliamentary committee probe into the Rs 58,000-crore Rafale jet deal in which they have alleged corruption.

During the session, NDA ally Shiv Sena is likely to pitch for a law to pave the way for construction of a Ram temple at Ayodhya. A section in the BJP is also in favour of the government facilitating the construction of the temple.

In the nearly month-long session, the government will push for passage of the triple talaq bill pending in the Rajya Sabha.

It had promulgated an ordinance to make the practice of instant triple talaq a penal offence.

The government also wants the Indian Medical Council amendment ordinance and the companies amendment ordinance to be passed as bills in this session.

‘45 bills Listed For Introduction and Passage’

According to the Parliamentary Affairs Ministry, 45 bills have been listed for introduction and passage in Parliament.

Some important new bills that are likely to be introduced during the session are:

• The National Commission for Indian System of Medicine (NCIM) Bill, 2018
• The National Commission for Homoeopathy (NCH) Bill, 2018
• The Aircraft (Amendment) Bill 2018, and
• The Jallianwala Bagh National Memorial (Amendment) Bill, 2018.

Many present in the all-party meeting convened by the government on Monday suggested keeping Parliament proceedings suspended between 24 December and 1 January, which they claimed has been a tradition.

In the original schedule, Parliament will have sittings on 24, 26 December as well as on 1 January. However, according to sources, the government will take a final call after considering the issue based on precedents of not having sitting on these dates.