The Centre has decided to call a special session of Parliament from September 18 to 22 and it will have five sittings, said Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi.
“Special Session of Parliament (13th Session of 17th Lok Sabha and 261st Session of Rajya Sabha) is being called from 18th to 22nd September having 5 sittings. Amid Amrit Kaal looking forward to having fruitful discussions and debate in Parliament,” Joshi said on ‘X’ (formerly Twitter).
He attached a picture of the old parliament building and the new building, which was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 28. The monsoon session of parliament, which concluded last month, was held in the old Parliament building.
The announcement of the special session came as a surprise in political circles with the parties gearing up for assembly polls in five states later this year.
The winter session of Parliament usually begins in the last week of November.
The call for the special session has been criticised by several opposition leaders, with those from Maharashtra pointing out the dates clash with “India’s most important festival of Ganesh Chaturthi”.
“This special session called during India’s most important festival of Ganesh Chaturthi is unfortunate and goes against Hindu sentiments. Surprised at choice of dates!” Shiv Sena UBT’s Priyanka Chaturvedi said, while the Nationalist Congress Party’s Supriya Sule asked for it to be rescheduled. “Whilst we all look forward towards meaningful discussions and dialogue, the dates coincide with Ganpati Festival, a major festival in Maharashtra. Urging the Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister to take the above into consideration,” Sule posted on X.
The special session will also take place amid several major developments, including India having just hosted the G20 Summit in Delhi. This will be in the national capital between September 8 and 10.
In addition, the session will also take place after the Supreme Court was told the government is open to the conduct of elections in Jammu and Kashmir. During the court’s hearing on multiple petitions challenging the government’s scrapping of Article 370 in J&K, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said the decision on when to hold elections in the former state lay in the hands of Central and state poll bodies.
