New Delhi, Nov. 6: The winter session of Parliament has been delayed and curtailed, reports our special correspondent.

It will begin on December 2, a day after the Assembly elections to five states are completed, and will last until December 23. The session usually begins in the third week of November and concludes by Christmas-eve.

A Cabinet meeting chaired by Atal Bihari Vajpayee today decided to curtail the session. “The cabinet took into account the fact that owing to the Assembly elections, members of Parliament would be in their constituencies for polling and will not be able to participate in the session. Therefore, it decided that the session should begin on December 2,” parliamentary affairs minister Sushma Swaraj said.