TMC, NCP, DMK ask govt to curtail Monsoon Session in wake of Covid-19; Govt rejects demand

At least three parties have asked the government to curtail the Monsoon Session of Parliament in the wake of increasing cases of Covid-19 cases, including MPs and Ministers testing positive for the virus infection.

However, the government has not agreed to the demand citing that it has important legislative agenda to complete and it could not send a wrong signal. The Session began on September 14 and is scheduled to end on October 1.

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Sources said that DMK's Tiruchi Siva, NCP's Praful Patel and Trinamool Congress' Derek O'Brien told Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi about the need for curtailing the session as the number of cases are increasing.

Some of them also cited Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari, Culture Minister Prahlad Patel, and BJP MP Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, who attended the Session and tested positive for Covid-19. All the three had earlier tested negative for Covid-19 over the week-end but tests done later had come positive.

Around 40 MPs and close to 75 Parliamentary staff have been tested positive for the virus infection during the tests conducted in the past week in Parliament.

Siva said he has spoken to the Minister about the rising cases and the need for curtailing the session but the government appeared not keen on adjourning the Parliament sine die.

O'Brien said he has proposed to the government to pass the Bills to replace seven ordinances on which the Opposition has no objection in the next three days while sending four contentions Bills -- three on the agriculture sector and one on the banking sector -- to the Rajya Sabha Select Committee.

"If such a proposal is given by the government, we are even ready to forego the discussions on economy and GST, which have been agreed. In such a scenario, we can pass the seven Bills and adjourn the session sine die on Sunday or Monday," he said.

However, all in the Opposition are not in favor of curtailing the session. A senior Congress leader said there was "no signal" from the government on curtailing the session while not responding to a question whether the party will demand ending the session abruptly.

A senior RJD leader said he was personally against the move to adjourn the session even when the cases are rising.

After Gadkari, Prahlad Patel, and Sahasrabuddhe tested positive, the Parliament has tweaked the testing allowing repeat RT-PCR tests, mandatory tests for government officials attending Parliament, and daily rapid antigen tests for media persons and Parliament officials.