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Winter session of Maharashtra legislature to be held on December 14, 15
The government is also likely to conduct the budget session in February
Amid fears of a possible spike in the Covid-19 cases, the Maharashtra government has curtailed its winter session to two days from the usual duration of two weeks. The session will be held on December 14 and 15 and the government is also likely to conduct the budget session in February.
Traditionally winter session of the state legislature is held in Nagpur every year. However, this year it will be held in Mumbai.
In the business advisory committee (BAC) meeting attended by legislative Council chairman Ramraje Naik Nimbalkar, Assembly speaker Nana Patole, chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, his deputy Ajit Pawar, leaders of the Opposition in Assembly and Council Devendra Fadnavis and Pravin Darekar, the leaders decide to postpone the winter session, slated to begin on December 7, by a week.
“Besides the supplementary demands, the two-day session will have condolence motion and debate on supplementary budget. Though the Opposition insisted to hold the session for two weeks, we [the government] decided to curtail it short in the wake of the pandemic,” said parliamentary affairs minister Anil Parab.
As for the monsoon session held on September 7 and 8, the entry to legislature for the winter session, too, will be restricted and it is mandatory to undergo reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test.
Fadnavis has slammed the state government for curtailing the duration of the session.
“There are many issues, including the Maratha reservation, farmers’ distress, and also the strictures against the state government by various courts that need to be discussed. The state government is trying to run away from debating on these issues by reducing the duration of the session,” he said.
Meanwhile, Patole said the budget session will be held in Nagpur.
“It has been in-principle decided that the budget session will be held in the second capital of the state as per the Nagpur Pact,” he said.
The pact was signed when the Vidarbha region was included in Maharashtra at the time of the formation of the state. According to it, it is mandatory to hold one session of the legislature in a year at Nagpur.
