by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group
Winter session to be short, likely by November 26
Winter session to be short, likely by November 26
GST future hangs
in the balance
Harish Gupta
New Delhi, Nov.
2
Modi
government’s plans to convene Parliament’s Winter session Government early seem
to have run into a rough weather. If reports emanating from the South Block are
correct, the Winter session will begin from November 26 instead of November 19
as planned earlier.
The government
reportedly conceded the suggestion of the Congress Party not to convene the
session on November 19 being the birthday of late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
No useful purpose would have been served had the session being called on November
20 as the Prime Minister is traveling abroad during the next three days. The
session could not have been held from November 16 i.e. Monday as Bihar and
parts of UP and other states will be celebrating the Chhat pooja on November 17.
Therefore, the government is now reconciled to holding the session from
November 26. This simply means that the session will have 22 effective working
days as it has to end due to Christmas and New Year celebrations.
The proceedings, no
doubt, will be greatly influenced by the outcome of the ongoing elections to
the Bihar assembly; the results will be declared on 8 November.
The cabinet committee on
parliamentary affairs (CCPA) met on October 26 took stock of the 53 pending
bills in the Rajya Sabha. Irrespective of the outcome of the Bihar polls, the
session will be stormy as opposition parties are planning to bring a censure
motion against the NDA government for recent spurt in communal violence,
including the lynching of a 50-year-old man in Dadri, beef ban and related
issues. Even the issues raised by the Sahitya Akademi award winners who are
returning their honours is set to dominate the proceedings during the first
week.
The Prime Minister
Narendra Modi and some of his senior most ministers including Arun Jaitley and
Home Minister Rajnath Singh have strongly come out against those vitiating the
atmosphere. This is aimed at bringing the political temperatures down. They also
reined some of their own well wishers as well.
The government may be
keen to push its own economic reform agenda in this session. But it is highly
unlikely that a consensus is built on the passage of a constitutional amendment
bill to pave way for the passage of the GST Act. The crucial bill was expected
to be passed in the monsoon session of Parliament, but the government failed to
build consensus on it.
The falling share market
for the past one week and political analysts predicting majority by
Maha-Gathbandhan in Bihar are a clear indication that going may not be smooth
for the BJP during the Winter session. Rajnath Singh’s declaration today that
whatever may be the outcome of the Bihar Assembly polls, Amit Shah will
continue as BJP president is also an indication of the way the wind is blowing.
Ends
