Winter Session of Parliament from November 22 to December 20

New Delhi: The Winter Session of Parliament is set to begin on November 22, 2012 and will carry on till December 20. It will include a total of 18 sittings. The last session was washed out over the coal allocation scam.

The Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs, at a meeting chaired by Defence Minister AK Antony, on Thursday decided to recommend to President Pranab Mukherjee to convene the Winter Session from November 22, officials said. The session will continue till December 20.

This will be the first session since the Trinamool Congress, which was a partner of the ruling United Progressive Alliance, walked out of the government protesting the diesel price hike and unveiling of a series of reform measures like allowing Foreign Direct Investment in the retail sector.

It will include a total of 18 sittings. The last session was washed out over the coal blocks allocation scam.

Parliament will also meet against the backdrop of scathing attack on the government by the Opposition parties over the controversial decisions. Main Opposition the Bharatiya Janata Party has on several ocassions said that the UPA government would not last beyond the Winter Session.

Two weeks ago key NDA ally Sharad Yadav had said that the next session will not be disrupted. While the coal scam disrupted Parliament for most of the Monsoon Session, the issue of reservation dominated it towards the end. The Opposition MPs kept protesting against the coal block allocation scam and demanded Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's resignation during the Monsoon Session.

(With additional information from PTI)

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