Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju on Wednesday announced that the Monsoon Session of Parliament will be held from July 21 to August 12. This will mark the first sitting of both Houses—Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha—after a break of over three months.
"We have decided to convene the Monsoon Session of Parliament starting July 21, and it will conclude on August 12. The Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs has finalised the dates, and we will be sending the proposal to the Hon'ble President for the formal summoning of both Houses," Rijiju told reporters.
The announcement of the Monsoon Session comes in the backdrop of growing pressure from the Opposition, which had been demanding a special session of Parliament to discuss developments related to Operation Sindoor, launched in response to the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, that claimed the lives of 26 people.
Opposition leaders, under the banner of the INDIA alliance, have been vocal in their demand for a special session specifically to deliberate on national security concerns following the attack. Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge posted on X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday, "We, the leaders of INDIA, reiterate our collective and urgent request to convene a special session of Parliament to discuss the developments following the terror attack in Pahalgam on April 22."
Kharge also shared a letter addressed to the government, signed by several prominent opposition figures including Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, and Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee, pressing the need for a focused parliamentary discussion on the issue. In response to the demand, Minister Rijiju dismissed the need for a separate special session, stating, “Every session is a special session for us.”
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He added that the Monsoon Session provides ample opportunity for members to raise and debate all important matters under the existing rules. “All significant issues can be discussed during the session,” he emphasised.
However, the Opposition was quick to criticise the government’s decision to bypass their demand. Trinamool Congress leader Derek O’Brien took a sharp dig at the Centre on social media, accusing it of avoiding parliamentary accountability. “Parliamentophobia (noun): My word for the acute condition of a (Modi) government who have a morbid fear of facing Parliament. Running away from a Special Session,” he posted.
The political tension surrounding the government’s handling of Operation Sindoor and the broader national security response is expected to be a major focus of the upcoming Monsoon Session, even though a dedicated special session was not granted.
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