Parliament session to be short

NEW DELHI: With state polls beginning on November 14, the coming session of Parliament is certain to get truncated. Although leaders from both sides of the political aisle were sceptical of the schedule worked out by the government, the EC announcement will give the Centre an excuse to shut Parliament before the scheduled November 21. Parliament was slated to meet from October 17 to November 21.

The government may not be worried about a curtailed session as the Opposition has been planning to use the floor of Parliament to amplify its message for the coming elections. It went to the extent of citing the J&K situation for putting off the session to October 17. The monsoon session, which generally begins in July was to be held from August 11.

The government���s wariness over facing Parliament stems not just from facing the Opposition ire but also its helplessness to come out with a legislative agenda. Some of the government���s favourite proposals ��� including financial sector reform bills on pension, insurance and banking ��� have already been put on the back burner.

These legislations, which could not be pushed earlier because of the opposition from Leftist allies, are now being blocked by the BJP as well. Being money bills, the government would have to be confident of a majority before taking them up in the House. The changed global economic scenario has also sapped the government���s stamina.

The Lok Sabha Secretariat has termed the special session as the ���second part��� of the 14th session of the present Lok Sabha. The two-day session for the trust vote in July was the first part of the session. As a no-confidence motion cannot be brought within the same session, the UPA government need not fear being cornered by the opposition.