BJP issues whip to Rajya Sabha MPs to be present on Sept 14 ahead of Monsoon Session

Ahead of the Monsoon session of Parliament, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday issued a three-line whip to its Rajya Sabha MPs asking them to be present in the House on September 14. On the first day of the session, i.e. on September 14, the election for the post of Deputy Chairman of the Upper House will take place. The last date for filing nomination is September 11 till 12 noon. JD-U member Harivansh has been fielded as the NDA nominee.

According to sources, the BJP has already started consultations to seek support for the NDA candidate. Furthermore, efforts are also being made for consensus so that there is a unanimous election to the post.

READ: Modi govt allows 30-min Question hour in monsoon session after huge Opposition uproar

Monsoon session will begin from September 14

Parliament's monsoon session will begin from September 14, said a notification issued by the Lok Sabha Secretariat. The notification issued by the Lok Sabha Secretariat said President Ram Nath Kovind has called the lower house to meet on Monday, September 14 at 9 AM. Sitting in the Upper House will be held from 3 PM to 7 PM. On subsequent days, proceedings in Rajya Sabha will be held from 9 AM till 1 PM while the time for Lok Sabha sittings has been fixed from 3 PM to 7 PM.

The Lok Sabha Secretariat further said that the change is only for the monsoon session and the Question hour will be back in the winter session. There will be in total 18 consecutive sittings with no holiday or weekend break, according to officials.

READ: Ahead of the upcoming monsoon session, Congress parliamentary strategy group meets

COVID-19 precautions

Taking in stock the COVID situation, the government is looking to strictly adhere to all COVID-19 related standard operating procedures (SOPs), including social distancing and sanitization. A proposal for changing the rules for entry of journalists in the Parliament premises is also being considered owing to COVID-19 pandemic.

It is also looking to change the timings of both the Houses to prevent any overcrowding in the Parliament premises at any point of time. There are also proposals to install an ultraviolet irradiation system in the air-conditioning unit to kill germs and viruses. 

READ: Opposition to devise joint strategy for Parliament session to corner Centre: Sources

READ: Monsoon session of Parliament won't have question hour due to COVID; starts September 14

(with inputs from ANI)