New Delhi, July 1
The Liberhan Commission report on Babri Masjid demolition, persisting naxalite violence across the country and price rise issue are expected to rock the Budget session of Parliament starting here tomorrow, with the Left parties planning to seek suspension of question hour on the hike in petrol price.
Although called for the passage of railway and general budgets, formalities of which must be completed before July 31 when the deadline of the vote-on-account sought earlier on February 16 ends, the session will witness its share of political heat, with the Left already raising the pitch for the submission of Liberhan report in the forthcoming session.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was, however, silent on whether the government would table the report in the Budget session. “We are looking forward to this session with great expectations and hope it would be smooth,” he said, although leader of the house Pranab Mukherjee, during the meeting of parliamentary party leaders with the Lok Sabha Speaker today, hinted that the report might not be tabled in the current session as there was hardly any time for action taken report (ATR) to be prepared. He is learnt to have cited procedure that ATR needed to be tabled along with the main report.
Mukherjee, however, said the government would consider the demand of political parties, most of which sought tabling of the report. The Left was the most vocal, with CPM’s leader in Lok Sabha Basudeb Acharia demanding in the leaders’ meeting that the report be immediately tabled as it had already taken 17 long years.
“We can’t wait for the ATR to be ready. It is incumbent on the government to table the report in this session,” Acharia said in the meeting, supported by his CPI counterpart Gurudas Dasgupta. Both TMC and Samajwadi Party also sought discussions on the report but cautioned against inflammation of communal passions. Sources said SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav
appealed to the Speaker to ensure that repercussions of discussions on the issue did not hurt the law and order situation.
The BSP and the RJD were surprisingly silent on this issue, sources said, even when BSP chief Mayawati has sought that the UPA table the report. BJP’s LK Advani, who is at the receiving end on the Babri Masjis issue, is learnt to have remained largely silent in the leaders’ meet, promising cooperation during the House proceedings.
That apart, a special discussion on price rise is likely in the forthcoming session and may be part of the general budget discussions. The Left, to ward off opposition on the Lalgarh front, is also learnt to have given a notice to the Speaker under Rule 193, seeking discussions on naxalite activity across India. TMC’s Mamta Banerjee, however, demanded discussions on the Lalgarh issue during the leaders’ meet today.
With the stage for storm already set by the Babri Masjid report, the session may not be as smooth as expected in the light of lack of enthusiasm in the opposition camps which remain defeat-struck.
This augurs well for the financial business of the UPA, which will present the economic survey on the opening day tomorrow, followed by rail budget on July 3 and the general budget on July 6 (Monday). Discussion on the railway budget are expected on July 7 (two days earmarked) followed by a debate on the general budget.
Parliament sources said a guillotine would be applied on discussions on demands for grants on July 21 and the budgetary process would be completed by July 27.
