Parliament Sets Record With 88-Day Unprorogued Session: Is Government Keeping Its Options Open?

Parliament’s Monsoon Session has remained formally open for 88 days since both Houses were adjourned sine die on August 13, surpassing the previous record of 87 days set in 2008. The prolonged delay in proroguing the session has raised questions over whether the government is deliberately keeping it alive to retain the option of reconvening Parliament at short notice, while postponing the decision to call a separate Winter Session.

Neither the Lok Sabha nor the Rajya Sabha had been formally prorogued as of Monday. By keeping the Monsoon Session open, the government retains the flexibility to call MPs back with a minimum notice of two days, compared with at least 14 days required to summon a fresh session.

The possibility assumes significance after the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill failed in the Lok Sabha on April 17. The legislation sought to change the framework for implementing women's reservation and increase the maximum strength of the Lok Sabha from 550 to 850 through delimitation. It received 298 votes in favour and 230 against, falling 54 votes short of the 352 required for a two-thirds majority.

The Congress has accused the government of keeping the session open to give Union Home Minister Amit Shah time to secure what it called a "super-tainted two-thirds majority" for the delimitation proposals. Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh alleged that the move was intended to facilitate the passage of the bills. He also said party president Mallikarjun Kharge had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi four times in six months seeking an all-party meeting on delimitation, but no such meeting had been convened.

Ramesh also questioned the government's reliance on the 2008 precedent, pointing out that the parliamentary handbook Kaul and Shakdher mentions a maximum gap of 28 days between adjournment sine die and prorogation, citing 2015. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, however, had cited the 87-day gap in 2008.

In 2008, the UPA government led by Manmohan Singh kept the session unprorogued after the Left parties withdrew support over the Indo-US nuclear deal. The government won a confidence vote 275-256 on July 22. The Lok Sabha reconvened on October 17, met again from December 10 and continued its work until December 23. The session was prorogued the following day.