No plan to curtail winter session of parliament: Govt

New Delhi, Dec 15: The government on Wednesday clarified that there is no plan as of now to curtail the ongoing Winter Session, but added the Opposition should not run away from debate they themselves have sought on vital issues.

The statement comes on a day both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha were adjourned on Wednesday amid sloganeering by the Opposition over an SIT probe report on the Lakhimpur Kheri violence.

Speaking to reporters Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said that "government has no plans to curtail the ongoing session of Parliament."

"Today in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, there were discussions on inflation and Omicron demanded by the Opposition but they ran away without having any discussion. Why are they demanding discussions if they don't want to attend them?," Joshi questioned.

It is strange that the Opposition sought discussion on serious issues such as price rise and on the new Omicron variant of coronavirus, but they ran away at the time of discussion, Joshi told reporters outside Parliament.

"The Opposition has nothing to talk about inflation or Omicron. This is the reason they run away from the house. Govt is ready for discussions. I request them to join the discussions from tomorrow. We are ready to have discussions till 6pm on 23rd Dec," it added.

"Piyush Goyal has made it clear that the Supreme Court is monitoring it. The government wants that there should be a fair probe and impartial probe. What else does the Opposition want? It is a sub judice matter," he further said.

The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the Lakhimpur violence has submitted before a court that the killing of the four farmers and a journalist in the October 3 incident, in which Union minister Ajay Mishra's son Ashish is an accused, was a "pre-planned conspiracy".

It seems the Opposition has nothing to say on these issues, they are just busy in "spreading rumours" about the curtailment of the session, Joshi said.

It may be recalled that both Budget Session and Monsoon Session of Parliament were curtailed due to the coronavirus pandemic.