Winter Session of Maharashtra Assembly to begin on 11 December; state government to table 13 bills

Nagpur: Over a dozen new bills are likely to be tabled in the both Houses of the Maharashtra legislature in the Winter Session beginning in Nagpur from 11 December. The Opposition parties are expected to corner the BJP-led government on a host of issues, including the farm loan waiver. The session in Nagpur, the second capital of Maharashtra, will go on for two weeks. State parliamentary affairs Minister Girish Bapat has already issued the schedule for the Winter Session. [caption id=“attachment_4250553” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Devendra Fadnavis with other ministers arrive at Vidhan Bhawan during the Winter Session of Maharashtra Assembly in Nagpur in 2016. PTI[/caption] “Our government will table 13 new bills in both the Houses during the two weeks of the legislature starting on 11 December. Besides, 11 ordinances are also going to be tabled for approval,” Bapat said. The Shiv Sena is part of the BJP-led ruling coalition, while the Congress and the Sharad Pawar-led NCP are the main Opposition parties. Ahead of the session, the BJP received a boost when its candidate won a bypoll to the legislative council with more votes than the numbers in favour of the ruling coalition, indicating a crack in the Opposition ranks. Prasad Lad won 209 votes when the combined BJP-Shiv Sena tally of MLAs was 184 in the 288-member Lower House. It clearly means Lad got 25 additional votes from the Opposition parties, presumably from the Congress, the NCP and also smaller parties and independents. The members of the Assembly formed the electorate college for the vacant seat in the Upper House.