Both Houses of Parliament were adjourned on the first day of the Winter Session on Tuesday after members paid their tributes to leaders who recently died, including former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, former Lok Sabha speaker Somnath Chatterjee, and Union minister Ananth Kumar. The session will continue till January 8.
Ahead of the session, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had addressed the media and said he hoped all members of the House would help discuss several key Bills. He said he hoped members would invest in the people’s welfare, not themselves, according to NDTV. On Monday, he had said the government was “ready to discuss all issues” during this parliamentary session.
The Winter Session usually starts in November. However, it was delayed this year due to the Assembly elections in five states – Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Mizoram and Chhattisgarh. The counting of votes for these states are currently underway. The session was delayed in 2017 too due to Assembly elections in Gujarat.
In this session of Parliament, 23 Bills are listed for consideration and passage, and two for withdrawal, according to PRS Legislative Research. Twenty new bills are also listed for introduction, consideration, and passage, the agency said.
The ordinance for Triple Talaq Bill, for disbanding the Medical Council of India, and the companies amendment ordinance are some of those listed for this session. Some parties are also expected to bring up the ordinance for a Ram temple in Ayodhya and the Women’s Reservation Bill, which, if enacted, would reserve 33% of seats in state Legislative Assemblies and Parliament for women.
The Monsoon Session of Parliament, which started on July 18, was the most productive one since 2000. Twenty bills were introduced in Parliament during this session, of which 12 were passed by at least one House of Parliament.
Top leaders of several Opposition parties also met in Delhi on Monday as part of attempts to form a grand alliance to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance ahead of the Lok Sabha elections in 2019. The meeting, held at Parliament House Annexe in Delhi, was coordinated by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and Telugu Desam Party chief N Chandrababu Naidu.
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