Winter Session likely from Dec 15; won't overlap with polls, says Jaitley

New Delhi: The Centre is contemplating convening the Winter Session of Parliament from December 15, a day after the second phase of the Gujarat Assembly polls, government functionaries said on Wednesday.

The Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs (CCPA) headed by Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday met here to deliberate upon the dates of the session.

The session would likely be held from December 15 till January 5, they said on the condition of anonymity.

Later, briefing the reporters on the Cabinet decisions, Finance Ministry Arun Jaitley said the Winter Session schedule would be such that it did not overlap with the assembly
elections, and it would be a "regular" session.

He said in a democracy when elections were on, political parties addressed the people directly.

"...normally the elections and Parliament session don't overlap," he said to queries.

"Therefore, we are going to ensure that a regular Winter Session is held, but elections and session dates don't overlap," he said.

In an apparent dig at the Congress, Jaitley said the Gujarat polls were important for the BJP and it would be busy campaigning there, but he was not sure whether its opponents would be busy in the campaigning or not.

Asked whether a session which begins in December can continue in January without the customary address of the President, Jaitley said the issue was settled long back.

He said if the session spilled over to January, it was not considered a fresh session. The President addressed the first session of a calendar year, the minister said.

The functionaries indicated that the dates of the Winter Session would be formally announced after two ordinances placed before the Cabinet on Wednesday were promulgated. An ordinance cannot be issued when the dates of the session are announced.

The opposition had attacked the government for delaying the Winter Session, claiming that it was being done to avoid a debate on scams, including the Rafale deal, ahead of Gujarat Assembly polls.

The BJP, however, rejected the Congress's tirade as a "chorus of baseless allegations" and insisted that previous governments, including the UPA, had also scheduled sessions after state polls as politicians were busy campaigning.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar had said the Winter Session, which generally starts from November's third week, would be convened in December.