Parliament winter session likely from Dec 15 to Jan 5

The Winter Session of Parliament is likely to be held from December 15 to January 5, sources said.

The Congress and the BJP on Tuesday sparred over the delay in convening Parliament's winter session

The grand old-party on Tuesday stepped up its attack on the delay in convening the Winter Session of Parliament, accusing the government of betraying the Constitutional mandate of subjecting itself to Parliamentary oversight.

Congress chief Sonia Gandhi this week accused the PM of "sabotage" and said that the government is worried about being held accountable by the opposition for the economic slowdown that saw the growth rate declining in the last quarter to a 3-year-low of 5.7%.

Further Senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge accused the BJP of delaying the Parliament winter session, saying that the party in power at the Centre was afraid of opposition debate ahead of Gujarat elections.

In response to the allegations, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had said that it's not uncommon for elections to push back parliament sessions; he said the Congress was no stranger to this practice when it was in power and promised that the winter session would be called "very shortly".

Pointing out that Lok Sabha has met for only 38 days this year, the Congress argued that the Winter Session was neither curtailed nor delayed in 2012, when Assembly elections were held in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh.

The winter session is traditionally convened in the third week of November and lasts until the third week of December.

OneIndia News