With the monsoon session of Parliament expected to begin on July 20, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla is set to take a decision before then on two politically significant merger applications – one by 20 rebel Trinamool Congress (TMC) MPs seeking to join the Indian National Congress Party (NCPI) and the other by six Shiv Sena (UBT) lawmakers seeking a merger with the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena faction.
Two senior Lok Sabha officials, speaking anonymously, said Birla is examining the legal and procedural aspects of both the cases and may seek a legal opinion before making a final decision. Birla is likely to consult the law ministry and study past precedents before deciding on the merger applications, they added.
“The Speaker will discuss every aspect of this issue. He will likely seek a legal opinion from the Ministry of Law and look into precedents and rules. The process is to ensure that the decision is reached after detailed consideration and is not taken in haste,” a staffer said.
According to officials, for the two-day programme, a series of technical sessions are designed to cover key aspects of legislative work, including “How to be an effective legislator”; Member customs, conventions and etiquette; “Executive accountability through questions and other procedural tools in legislative bodies”; “Committee System in the Indian Parliament”; “The legislative process including Members’ Bills”; “Financial Business and Budgetary Process in Parliament”; “Parliamentary Privileges and Ethics”; and “National Electronic Vidhan Application (NeVA)”.
