In view of a possibility of a second wave of coronavirus pandemic, the winter session of Maharashtra Legislature will take place in Mumbai and not in Nagpur from December 7. The decision was taken at the Business Advisory Committee meeting held at the Vidhan Bhavan. The tenure of the winter session will be decided at the meeting slated for November end after reviewing the Covid 19 situation.
It has been the practice since the Maharashtra state was formed in 1960 to hold the winter session in Nagpur which was earlier the capital of the Central Provinces and Berar. Nagpur was merged with Maharashtra. It will be the first time that the winter session will be held away from Nagpur due to Covid-19 crisis. The announcement came two days after Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray in his web address to the citizens had said Maharashtra could not afford a second wave, which was witnessed in western countries, as it will have an adverse impact on health, infrastructure, and economy.
‘’The Business Advisory Committees (BACs) of both the houses met today at the Vidhan Bhavan and decided to hold winter session in Mumbai instead of Nagpur considering the coronavirus crisis. The number of days for the ensuing winter session will be decided at the BAC meetings to be held in November end,’’ said the Chief Minister’s Office in a release.
BACs arrived at a decision after a large number of members from ruling and opposition parties suggested that the winter session should be held in Mumbai and not in Nagpur due to the present coronavirus pandemic. BACs also reviewed facilities needed in the state legislature for conducting the business.
The Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Speaker Nana Patole hoped that the state would recover faster from the Covid-19 crisis.
However, BJP demanded that the tenure of the winter session should be minimum 15 days and it should not be curtailed. Former minister Girish Mahajan alleged that the government was not ready to face the opposition and therefore wants to curtail the session period. "Opposition has demanded that the government should hold a budget session in Nagpur,’’ he added.
