New Delhi: The forthcoming Winter Session of Parliament could be a curtailed one, with the government apparently looking at ways to avoid its clash with Gujarat Assembly elections, scheduled for December 9 and 14. Sources aware of developments said that several permutations are apparently being worked out to squeeze in a shorter, most probably a week-long, session between December 15 and December 22.
A shorter Winter Session held right after Gujarat polls could help insulate it from being overshadowed by various state related issues which the Opposition may try and raise in Parliament to corner the BJP-led government if it is held in its normal time frame, i.e. from November-end to the third week of December.
The BJP, which has been ruling Gujarat for the past 22 years, is for the first time facing spirited competition from the main Opposition party, Congress, as well as the amalgamation of Patel and OBC community leaders on a host of issues like dalit atrocities, lack of jobs, malnutrition as well as the recent deaths of 18 infants in Ahmedabad.
Another consideration is that Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself will be busy touring Gujarat for election campaigns all of November, and with finance minister Arun Jaitley in charge of the Assembly polls, it would be difficult for the government to focus on parliamentary proceedings.
Though nothing is concrete at the moment, the government is looking at several schedules to convene the session.
Normally the Winter Session begins in the third week of November and ends just days before Christmas, and has a total of 20 sittings.
Gujarat elections are scheduled to be held in two phases, and results are to be announced on December 18.
