The Modi government announced its plan to convene a five-day special session of Parliament beginning September 18, catching political circles and the opposition by surprise and triggering speculation about Lok Sabha polls being held along with the coming round of assembly elections scheduled for November-December.
“Special session of Parliament (13th session of 17th Lok Sabha and 261st session of Rajya Sabha) is being called from September 18 to 22 having five sittings. Amrit Kaal is looking forward to having fruitful discussions and debate in Parliament,” parliamentary affairs minister Pralhad Joshi said on X, previously called Twitter.
The government kept quiet about the anticipated agenda for the session, which was scheduled to begin just over a month after the monsoon session came to an end on August 11, adding to the intrigue surrounding the decision. Even senior government functionaries struggled to divine the purpose. The INDIA bloc termed the move an attempt to divert attention from their unity efforts and the fresh allegations on the Adani group, but were unable to fathom the motive.
The declaration was made in conjunction with a government assessment that the Lok Sabha elections may be moved forward from April to May in order to coincide with those in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, and Mizoram. Although sources lacked clarity about the political rationale for holding the session in September, two months ahead of the winter session which is convened in November, they felt that going to polls early would make political sense for the BJP.