The winter session of Parliament will be convened from December 5 to 20, an official release said. With a total of 12 sittings for both the Houses of Parliament, the ensuing session will be the last productive session of the UPA-II government before its tenure ends on May 22, 2014. The UPA Government seeks to take up some of the key reform legislations in the winter session.
The Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill, which seeks to raise the foreign equity cap in the sector to 49 per cent, is likely to be taken up during the session. Of the 122 Bills pending from the monsoon session, the government seeks to pass some of the important ones.
It is likely that the ensuing winter session will hit roadblocks in the form of results of Assembly elections in five states of Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Rajasthan and Mizoram, which will be out by December 8.
The session this year already took a hit owing to the two-phased Assembly elections in five states during the months of November and December. The winter session is usually convened in the third week of November every year, and concludes in the third week of December.
It is speculated that if this session does not end well, the government will be pushed to advance the General Elections due in 2014.
The winter session is likely to generate much heat in both the Houses of Parliament over a number of crucial issues such as the JPC report on 2G, inflation, key reforms and Telangana.
The decision to separate Telangana could cast a shadow on Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha in the first few days with members from Seemandhra agitated over the move. Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde had announced that the bill would be introduced in the winter session of Parliament.