Government Extends Parliament Session Till Aug. 7
The ongoing session had started on June 7 and was scheduled to end on July 26.
The Union government on Thursday decided to extend the Parliament session till Aug. 7 to complete its legislative agenda. The decision was taken at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs here, the sources said. The government had indicated on Wednesday that the ongoing Parliament session could be extended.
Following the decision, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi told Lok Sabha that there were around 17 pending bills as he explained the reason for the extension. Speaker Om Birla then made an announcement in the House about the session's extension till Aug. 7.
The ongoing session had started on June 7 and was scheduled to end on July 26. In Rajya Sabha, the government is set to formally propose the extension on Friday at the business advisory committee meeting, the sources said.
Though opposition parties like the Congress and the Trinamool Congress had opposed any move to extend the session, the government has the prerogative to do so, they said. There has been precedent of Parliament session being extended beyond the original schedule, they added.
Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar had said the Opposition has always demanded that Parliament should meet for more number of days. “Now we are doing it,” he said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had first indicated about the extension in a Bharatiya Janata Party parliamentary party meeting, saying it can be done, if necessary, to complete the government's legislative agenda.