Maharashtra legislature's two-days winter session postponed to Dec 14

In the wake of coronavirus pandemic, the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) of the State Council and Assembly, on Thursday, December 4 decided to curtail the winter session of the Maharashtra legislature to just two days. The session that was scheduled to begin from December 7 has been postponed to December 14 and 15.

This decision was taken in a meeting held at Vidhan Bhavan of the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) of the state legislature on Thursday, December 4. For the first time in the last 60 years, the Maharashtra legislature decided to hold its winter session in Mumbai instead of Nagpur due to the pandemic.

Earlier, the monsoon session of the state legislature was held on September 7 and 8 instead of June 22 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Meanwhile, the BJP, who is in opposition, expressed its displeasure over the decision to hold the winter session in Mumbai and that too for only two days.

Talking to reporters, BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis said, "We were expecting a longer session so that it would enable discussion on various issues concerning people and farmers in the state. But this government has shown no interest in extending its duration."

"Excess rainfall, floods, cyclone and now the widespread pest infection have damaged various crops from time to time during this year," the Leader of Opposition said at the Legislative Assembly said.

"Cotton and soybean crops in Vidarbha, Marathwada and North Maharashtra regions got affected on a large scale due to various pest attacks. The unresolved issues related to the Maratha community, anxiety among the OBCs over possible encroachment on their reservation by other communities and women feeling highly unsafe are also other key issues. Therefore, we wanted to have a discussion on these points during the session," Fadnavis said.

Traditionally, the winter session of the Maharashtra legislature is held in Nagpur, the second capital of the state. As per the practice, this session lasts for at least two weeks.

The Budget session held in March, too, was curtailed by a week.