Average number of Parliament sittings dropped: TMC's Derek O'Brien
New Delhi (PTI): The average number of sittings of Parliament per session has dropped to 17 days with the dates of the Winter Session announced on Saturday, Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Derek O'Brien said.
The Winter Session of Parliament would be held from December 1 to 19, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju announced on Saturday.
O'Brien, TMC's leader in the Rajya Sabha, claimed that the BJP-led Centre suffers from "Parliament-ophobia" and accused it of running away from a debate on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls during the Monsoon Session. He also said a longer session would have meant the opposition demanding discussions on issues like unemployment and "throttling federalism".
"The House will actually just sit for 15 days," O'Brien said in a blogpost.
He said during the first Lok Sabha (1952), the average number of sittings per session of Parliament was 45 days. In the second and third Lok Sabhas, the average was 36 days.
During the ninth Lok Sabha (1989-1991), which lasted for only 15 months, this number came down to 14 days.
"Since 1991, the average days per Parliament session has always remained above twenty," he said.
During the 10th Lok Sabha (1991-1996) Parliament sat for an average of 26 days. In subsequent Lok Sabhas, the average number of days was 21, 25 and 22, O'Brien said.
"When the Narendra Modi government came to power in 2014, this number dropped below 20 days. During the 16th Lok Sabha (2014-2019), the average days per session was 19. During the 17th Lok Sabha (2019-2024), it was 18 days," he added.
"After today's announcement, it has dropped to an abysmal 17 days," the TMC leader said, claiming that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) suffers from "Parliament-ophobia".
"The reason for this government's Parliament-ophobia is obvious. The creaky coalition led by PM Narendra Modi shied away from a discussion on SIR (Silent Invisible Rigging) during the entire Monsoon Session of Parliament.
"A longer Winter Session would have made them even more uncomfortable when the Opposition demands discussions on unemployment and throttling federalism," he said.
"There is another reason why this skittish coalition wants a truncated session of Parliament, starting only in December," O'Brien said.
"It is Constitution Day on 26 November. It would have been a perfect occasion for a meaningful debate on upholding the values of the Constitution of India. But then, who cares about Parliament?" he added.
In a post on X earlier in the day, the TMC leader said, "Parliament-ophobia. PM Narendra Modi and team continue to suffer from the acute condition called Parliament-ophobia, a morbid fear of facing Parliament."
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Goa nightclub fire: Owners Saurabh and Gaurav Luthra fled to Phuket after tragedy, say police
Panaji (PTI): Saurabh Luthra and Gaurav Luthra, the main accused and owners of the Goa nightclub where a massive blaze claimed 25 lives, fled to Phuket hours after the tragedy, Goa Police said on Monday.
"Goa Police have taken further steps to coordinate with the Interpol Division of the CBI to apprehend both Saurabh and Gaurav Luthra at the earliest," a senior police officer said.
A massive fire at the nightclub, some 25 kilometres away from Panaji, on late Saturday night killed 25 persons. The deceased comprised 20 employees of the nightclub and five tourists, including four from Delhi. Five injured people were undergoing treatment at the government-run Goa Medical College and Hospital (GMCH).
After registering an FIR against them, a Look Out Circular was issued against them by December 7 by the Bureau of Immigration (BOI) at the request of the Goa Police.
The Bureau of Immigration at Mumbai was contacted, and it was found that both the accused had taken the 6E 1073 flight to Phuket at 5.30 am on December 7, immediately after the fire incident, which occurred around midnight, the officer said.
READ ALSO: Goa nightclub fire: Owner Saurabh Luthra expresses grief, assures management support
He said the Goa Police had immediately dispatched a team to Delhi to conduct raids on the addresses of the accused Gaurav and Saurabh Luthra.
"Since they were not available, a notice under the appropriate sections of law was pasted on the gate of their house. This shows their intent to avoid the police investigation", he said.
Goa Police have obtained transit remand of Bharat Kohli, an employee of the club, and are bringing him to Goa.
He also said that the postmortem on all 25 deceased has been completed and bodies handed over to their families.
