Parliament Winter Session: Sittings have not crossed 20 in the past five years

New Delhi: The number of sittings during the Winter Session has not crossed 20 under the Narendra Modi government in the past five years, while on three occasions, Parliament was adjourned sine die before schedule three times during the period.

Amid Opposition finding fault with the Modi government over announcing a shorter Winter Session, an analysis showed that the highest number of sittings were in 2014 and 2016, while the lowest was in 2017 and 2022. 

The Winter Session this time will start on December 1 and end on December 19, with 15 sittings.

During the 10 years of the UPA regime, the Winter Sessions were scheduled for a period between 14 and 24 days, while under the Modi government, they oscillated between 14 and 22 days.

The last time the Winter Session saw at least 20 days of sittings was in 2019, months after Modi returned to power for the second time. In 2020, the Winter Session could not be held due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

In 2021, there were 19 sittings announced, but Parliament was adjourned sine die a day earlier, while the next year, the Winter Session saw just 13 sittings, as it was adjourned four days prior to the scheduled adjournment.

The analysis showed that in 2023, 15 days were scheduled for sitting, but the House was adjourned sine die a day earlier. In 2022 and 2023, the session was called on December 7 and December 4, respectively. In 2024, there were 19 sittings.

The session was called as late as December 15 in 2017, as Gujarat elections were taking place. Then the session ended on January 5. Similar was the case in 2018 when the session was called on December 11 and ended on January 9, having sittings for 17 days, though initially 20 days were earmarked.

The Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs had informed the Rajya Sabha in December 2017 that the Winter Session of Parliament had been held for a shorter period.

It had then cited that in 1976, the Winter Session was scheduled for 12 days for the Lok Sabha and 13 days for the Rajya Sabha while the actual sitting was 11 and nine days, respectively.

In 2013, when the UPA was in power, there were 14 sittings scheduled but Parliament was adjourned sine die four days before schedule.

In 2008, the two-day Monsoon Session, in which a no-confidence motion was moved against the UPA-I over the India-US nuclear deal, was extended until December. The ostensible reason was to prevent the moving of another no-confidence motion, and it meant that there were only two sessions that year, the PRS Legislative Research has said in an article earlier.