Keen to ensure the passage of the GST bill, Government is keeping open the option of reconvening the session with the Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs today deciding not to recommend immediate prorogation of the Houses after they are adjourned sine die.
Sources said the decision to reconvene the monsoon session, after the washout of the last three weeks due to disruptions by the Congress-led Opposition, will depend on whether there is some significant headway with other parties on the contentious GST bill.
If the Government manages to rope in some regional parties and chooses to press for the GST bill, then it may call for reconvening the monsoon session for a few days.
The non-prorogation of the Houses and adjourning them sine die will enable it to reconvene the house at short notice, they added.
Under Article 85(2) of the Constitution, the President is vested with the power to prorogue (end a session) both Houses of Parliament. If the Houses are not prorogued and are adjourned sine die by the Chair in Parliament, the same session continues and can be reconvened at any time.
The Government had on Tuesday moved for the consideration of the Rajya Sabha the Constitution amendment bill for introduction of GST but debate on it was blocked by a vociferous Congress, which raised procedural issues.
With some regional parties such as the BJD, SP and INLD voicing disapproval of the disruptions in Parliament, there is a view in Government that the pro-reform measure, GST, can be pushed. The Trinamool Congress has already backed the Bill.
The Government is also trying to bring the NCP on board on the GST.
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