Stormy session on cards

New Delhi: The first session of the 18th Lok Sabha will begin on Monday. The day will begin with oath-taking by the newly elected members, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, followed by the election of the Lok Sabha Speaker on Wednesday, and President Droupadi Murmu's address to the joint sitting of both the Houses on Thursday.

The President will administer the oath to seven-term member Bhartruhari Mahtab as the pro-tem Speaker at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Monday. Mahtab will reach Parliament and call the Lok Sabha at 11 am.

The session, which will end on July 3 with Prime Minister Modi responding to the debate on Motion of Thanks to the President’s address, is all set to see sparks flying with the coalition government facing trouble over NEET and UGC-NET issues. Initially, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and the NDA government chose to defend the process but later went on a cancellation spree of exams and assigned the CBI to probe cases.

Adding to the paper leak issue would be the demand for postponement of implementation of new criminal laws from July 1.

The session will be starting on a confrontationist note with three Opposition MPs refusing to assist pro-tem Speaker Mahtab protesting the government choosing to ignore the claims of eight-term MP Kodikkunnil Suresh to head the oathtaking process.

The row over the Pro-tem Speaker likely to cast a shadow on the election of the Speaker, amid a section arguing that if the ruling coalition does not leave the Deputy Speaker post to the Opposition, it should force a voting for the post of Speaker. The election for the Speaker’s post is on Wednesday, after members take oath on the first two days. Both Houses are expected to go into a brief recess and reassemble on July 22 for the presentation of the Union Budget.