Maharahstra: Monsoon session to begin on August 17

The two-week monsoon session was scheduled to start on July 18 and was planned by former Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. But after winning the trust vote, the Eknath Shinde-led government decided to postpone it.

On Monday, the government decided to start the session from August 17 since there are many upcoming festivals and it would have been difficult to call all MLAs at short notice. Many of the staffers at Vidhan Bhavan had protested after the session was first scheduled on August 10, due to the many upcoming festive events, and Congress leaders also said they would have to leave planned yatras and come to Mumbai.

Speaker of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, Rahul Narwekar, The Indian Express, “The monsoon session will now start from August 17. The quantum of the session and the duration will be decided in the business advisory committee.” The session will likely end before the 10-day Ganesh festival, which starts on August 31.

Many supplementary demands are expected be passed in the session. Several changes related to polls of municipal corporations, councils and zilla parishad will be passed. There is a possibility that a no-confidence motion will be moved against deputy speaker Narhari Jhirwal. The Leader of the Opposition in Legislative Council will take office in this session. The Shiv Sena has announced that Ambadas Danve will be the Leader of Opposition in the Council, but the Congress has demanded the post for its own candidate.