Adjourned, not prorogued: Parliament Monsoon Session awaits formal closure

Delay in formal closure of Parliament session fuels speculation over a possible special session to pass the delimitation-linked Women's Reservation Bill

Ten days after both Houses of Parliament were adjourned sine die, the Monsoon session is yet to end formally, giving rise to speculation that the government wants to pass a key legislation without convening a new session.

Both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha were adjourned sine die (for an indefinite period) on August 13. Usually, the session is prorogued (formally ended) within the next three to four days. However, the prorogation notification for the Monsoon session had not been issued as of Sunday morning.

The Budget session ended on April 18 and was prorogued on April 20.

According to constitutional provisions, the president convenes and prorogues the session on the recommendation of the government.

 

There has been strong speculation that the government could bring the bill to amend the women's reservation law to ensure its implementation before the 2029 parliamentary polls.

An earlier attempt during the Budget session had failed as the government could not stack up the numbers. Opposition parties, particularly those from the south, were worried that population-based delimitation would reduce their strength in the Lok Sabha.

To assuage their concerns, the government has worked on a formulation to increase the number of Lok Sabha seats across states and Union territories by a uniform 50 per cent.

There were strong suggestions that the government could seek passage of the constitution amendment bill after Independence Day.

The Congress on Sunday raised questions over the session not being prorogued even 10 days after it was adjourned sine die and asked whether Union Home Minister Amit Shah was still in search of his "super-tainted" two-thirds majority to get the delimitation-linked Constitutional amendment bill passed in a special session.

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said the time gap between the sine die adjournment of the Lok Sabha and its prorogation is generally two to four days, although there are many instances when both have taken place on the same day.

"Ten days have gone by since this Lok Sabha was adjourned sine die but still there is no information on its prorogation," he said.

Ramesh said it was true that the gap for the Monsoon session in 2015 was 28 days and in 2021, it was 20 days, but there were no "diabolical" moves afoot then.

Speculation over the government's next move on the delimitation-linked Women's Reservation Bill has refused to die down after Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay raised the issue at the August 21 Southern Zonal Council meeting in Mahabalipuram that was chaired by Shah.

"I urge the Union government to provide a clear legislative assurance that no state will suffer a reduction in its percentage of representation in Parliament on account of its success in population stabilisation," Vijay said.

His remarks indicated a shift from the categorical opposition to delimitation through the resolution he moved in the Tamil Nadu Assembly on August 12.

However, Karnataka Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, who also attended the Mahabalipuram meeting, demanded that the central government retain the existing number of Lok Sabha seats 543 for the next 25 years.