Parliament likely to be adjourned sine die on September 23

Parliament is set to be adjourned sine die on September 23, much earlier than its scheduled 18-day Monsoon Session, sources said on Tuesday.

The decision comes amid opposition parties boycotting both the Houses over farm Bills and many parliamentarians testing positive for COVID-19.

The Lok Sabha business advisory committee had last week arrived at a consensus on curtailing the Monsoon Session. As many as 30 members of both the Houses, including ministers Nitin Gadkari and Prahlad Patel had tested positive for COVID-19.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the session for a few minutes on the first day, while Home Minister Amit Shah, who tested positive for the virus before the session, did not attend any session, so far.

Congress MPs Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, both travelling abroad, could not attend any session, too while many opposition MPs, including former prime minister Manmohan Singh and former finance minister P Chidambaram, sought leave from the Rajya Sabha proceedings on health grounds.

The Lok Sabha, which will meet at 3 pm on September 23 , is likely to be adjourned sine die around 5 pm after taking up two-hour long Zero Hour, sources told news agency PTI.

Likewise, the Rajya Sabha is likely to adjourn sine die after taking up Bills, including the Bilateral Netting of Qualified Financial Contracts Bill, 2020, on September 23.

Wednesday will be the tenth day of the Monsoon Session of Parliament that began on September 14, under the shadow of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and was supposed to run till October 1.

The session is being held amid many firsts, including sitting of the two Houses in shifts without any off day, entry only to those having a negative COVID-19 report and compulsory wearing of masks during the session.

Several key Bills, including those replacing controversial agriculture ordinances, were passed in the session. The decision to curtail the session has been conveyed to floor leaders of parties, sources said.

The Upper House witnessed unruly scenes on September 20 after the Opposition alleged that the due process of allowing a detailed discussion on the farm Bills was not followed in the House.

A ruckus ensued after the deputy chairman put the Bills to vote amid demands of detailed discussion from the opposition members who also wanted the Bills to be scrutinised by a select committee of Parliament.

Next day, eight opposition MPs were suspended for a week. The suspension followed adjournment of the Rajya Sabha and an overnight protest by the MPs.

On September 22, the Opposition decided to boycott the remaining session of the Upper House pending three demands, including revoking the suspension of the MPs. In absence of the opposition parties, the Rajya Sabha passed seven key Bills in a span of three-and-a-half hours.

Later in the day, the Opposition boycotted Lok Sabha proceedings after its demand for withdrawal of farm Bills was rejected.