Monsoon Session Of Parliament Likely From July 19 To August 13: Sources

The monsoon session of parliament is likely to be held from July 19 to August 13, sources have said.

With India's fresh Covid cases dropping in the last few weeks, the Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs' (CCPA) recommendation has been made considering the safety of MPs, government sources said, adding the session will see a total of 20 sittings. 

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi had said earlier this month that the government was hopeful the monsoon session will begin as per its normal schedule in July.

Most MPs and staff have got vaccinated. But the monsoon session is also likely to be shorter.

All three parliament sessions - after the pandemic had hit the country last year - have been shorter. Last year, the monsoon session began in September, while the budget session this year was cut short on March 25.

This will be the first parliament session after state elections in four states - West Bengal, Assam, Kerala and Tamil Nadu - and Puducherry.

Demands for Jammu and Kashmir's statehood may be one of the many issues that opposition may raise during the session. "In the monsoon session, parliament should repeal the offending laws and restore the status quo ante in Jammu and Kashmir. That is the only way to draw the starting line for a political resolution of the Kashmir issue," former union minister and Congress leader P Chidambaram had tweeted last week.

In a big outreach, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met all political leaders from J&K last week - the first such meeting since the scrapping of special status under Article 370 in 2019. The government is fully committed to the democratic process in Jammu and Kashmir, he said.

The centre's roadmap on J&K is clear: delimitation, elections, statehood.

Sources, after the meeting on June 25, had said the Prime Minister assured his commitment to restoring full statehood at the right time. 

The opposition is also expected to attack the central government over the handling of the second Covid wave, which had led to the shortage of medical supplies and hospital beds at it peak. Many nations had come forward to help India.

The Congress's Rahul Gandhi, along with others, have been criticising the government over being caught unprepared.