Sugarcan issue: Govt calls opposition over breakfast
After the storm on sugar pricing issue, the Government has convened a breakfast meeting with leaders of all political parties on Monday in a bid to ensure smooth running of Parliament.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who is the Leader of the Lok Sabha, has invited the floor leaders for an informal interaction that is being seen as a 'let-us-come-closer' plan.
There has been sizable official business on the agenda before the month-long session which concludes on December 21.
The first two days of the winter session, which began on Thursday, saw stalling of proceedings of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha by a united opposition protesting against the Sugar Control Ordinance with farmers converging on the capital to press for the demands.
With the sugar pricing issue amicably resolved, the meeting tomorrow is expected to see the Government to seek cooperation of all political parties.
RLD leader Ajit Singh said that no agenda has been fixed for tomorrow's meeting, which meant that parties were free to raise any issue about which they feel strongly during the interaction.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister P K Bansal's refrain is that the government is ready to discuss all issues and the opposition should allow Parliament to run and cooperate in disposing of the official business.
Samajwadi Party's Shailendra Kumar said that opposition parties wanted to raise a number of issues, ranging from price rise to Maoist violence.
BJP as also AIADMK want an early discussion on the alleged telecom spectrum scam in which Union Minister A Raja is under attack.
Prominent among the several bills being brought by the Government include 50 per cent reservation for women in panchayati raj institutions.
Government has also made its intention clear to bring the Land Acquisition bill in its present form despite Trinamool Congress having some reservations.
