New DelhiNovember 8, 2025 06:21 PM IST First published on: Nov 8, 2025 at 06:21 PM ISTUnion Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju’s announcement of the Winter Session of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha on Friday, spanning 15 working days from December 1 to 19, immediately drew criticism from the Opposition for an “unusually delayed and truncated” session.Last year, the Winter Session ran from November 25 to December 20.AdvertisementReacting to the schedule of the Winter Session, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said, “It will be just 15 working days. What is the message being conveyed? Clearly the government has no business to transact, no Bills to get passed, and no debates to be allowed.”Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP Derek O’Brien also targeted the government, saying, “Prime Minister Narendra Modi and team continue to suffer from the acute condition called Parliament-ophobia, a morbid fear of facing Parliament. Fifteen-day Winter Session announced. Setting dubious records.”Since the Narendra Modi-led government came to power in 2014, just three of the total 35 Sessions have been shorter than the planned 15-day Winter Session this year. Incidentally, all three were Winter Sessions, including the 13-day sessions of 2017 and 2022, and the 14-day Session of 2023 that saw mass suspensions of Opposition MPs.Advertisement Planned vs actual sitting daysThe only other Sessions that ran for fewer days were the Covid-impacted Monsoon Session in 2020, the Special Session in September 2023 to mark India’s hosting of the G20 Summit, and the shortened vote-on-account Budget Sessions ahead of the 2019 and 2024 Lok Sabha polls.However, since the Modi government’s first Parliament Session in 2014, the length of Sessions has generally declined.most readThe longest Session on record was the 37-day Budget Session that followed immediately after the BJP-led NDA came to power with a thumping mandate in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. The 35-day Budget Session of 2015 was the second longest on record and the only other one to work for over 30 days.Barring the outlier Sessions mentioned above, the average length of a Session under Modi has been 22 working days. A total of 11 Sessions have exceeded this average. Another 11 Sessions have come in under 20 days.Though Parliament plans for a certain number of working days in each Session, the actual number of sittings varies from the planned schedule. Just nine Sessions have run for the exact period that was planned. Generally, Sessions have run shorter than scheduled – as many as 22 Sessions ended before completing the scheduled duration. Just three Sessions exceeded the planned duration – the 2015 Budget Session worked an extra two days, while the 2024 pre-poll Budget Session and 2024 Winter Session ran for one extra day each.