Congress Rajya Sabha member from Karnataka, Jairam Ramesh, has written to Rajya Sabha chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu, requesting a special two-week session in May-June to pass important legislation and facilitate debate and discussion. Ramesh’s move has come after half of Parliament’s budget session was washed out due to disruptions.
Earlier, Congress had proposed a short sitting of both the Houses of Parliament before the monsoon session, which usually starts in July, to discuss issues of national importance. In his letter, Ramesh said that he was making this suggestion in his personal capacity and urged the chairman to convene the special session as the disruptions have “inflicted great damage” to Parliament as an institution and they might “help retrieve some of its lost prestige”.
Both Houses of Parliament were adjourned sine die on Friday at the end of the Budget session, half of which was washed out due to the disruptions over the TDP’s demand for granting special status to Andhra Pradesh, demonstrations by the AIADMK for forming the Cauvery management board and demands by the Congress to discuss the multi-thousand crore PNB scam.