Opposition fumes over delay in Winter Session

New Delhi: The Congress and the CPI(M) on Monday accused the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre of being scared of facing questions from people and thus taking the “unprecedented” decision of delaying and curtailing the Winter Session of Parliament.

Leading the Opposition protest against the Centre’s decision, the Congress demanded that the Winter Session be convened immediately, failing which it would take recourse to other means of protest.

The CPI(M) said that the BJP, which has its back to the wall in Gujarat, is trying toavoid a discussion in Parliament on demonetisation and GST. As per convention, all members of Parliament are intimated about the dates of the session 15 days in advance. Usually the Winter Session begins in the third week of November. “We demand that the Winter Session be immediately convened… an Assembly election should not be made into an excuse for a government to run away from facing Parliament,” Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari said. The Congress leader said that if, despite repeated reminders, the government does not listen, then other democratic options are open to the party. “There is a certain timetable to plan. Why is it that the NDA government has not yet convened the Winter Session? Has the Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs met? What is the recommendation that the CCPA has made?” Mr Tewari questioned. CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury claimed that the Modi government wants to undermine parliamentary accountability.

“This delay is unprecedented,” he said.

 “There are two aspects to this. Firstly, it is very clear that undermining Parliament is part of their philosophy. Most bills are passed in Lok Sabha without proper debate. Most of them are not sent to standing committees. Only in Rajya Sabha, owing to Opposition numbers, bills are sent to select committees. It is slowly changing. Secondly, the present context is the Gujarat elections where the BJP has its back to the wall. They don’t want a discourse in Parliament on demonetisation or GST. They want to avoid that embarrassment. I anticipate that till polling in Gujarat is over, they will not call the session,” he said. Mr Yechury said that in the last three years, there has been a reduction in the number of days the Parliament was in session.