Kolkata, Dec 24 The Winter session of the West Bengal Assembly, which was originally scheduled in December this year, will be conducted in the first half of January next year, Assembly Speaker Biman Bandopadhyay said on Wednesday.
According to the Assembly Speaker, the Winter session of the House had been delayed this time because of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in the state, with most legislators requesting postponement of the session because of their SIR-related engagement in their respective constituencies.
"So it has been decided that the Winter session will be conducted in the first half of January next year, when the hearing session on the claims and objections on the draft voters' list will almost be completed. I hope the session will be conducted smoothly," the Speaker told media persons.
Meanwhile, sources said that the Winter session of the House will have to be completed by January next year, considering that it will follow the interim budget session of the House, which will be in February this year, soon after which the dates for the crucial Assembly polls in the state will be announced.
However, during the interim budget session in February this year, only vote on accounts will be passed, and the full budget will be passed only after the formation of the new state Cabinet after upcoming Assembly elections, which will not be held before the last week of May or the first week of June next year.
As per the schedule of the Election Commission of India (ECI), the final voters' list will be published on February 14 next year, and soon after that, the polling dates will be announced by the Commission.
Generally, the Winter session of West Bengal is conducted either in November or December every year.
On Wednesday, a flower show was conducted within the Assembly premises, with none of the 65 legislators of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) attending the event.
"The flower show is conducted every year, where all are invited. I do not know why some people did not attend the event. There is nothing political about flowers," the Speaker said.
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