Parliament reopens to 2G, coal fury
The government is in for a stormy second half of the budget session beginning Monday, with the opposition set to launch an all-out attack on the joint parliamentary committee’s draft report on the 2G spectrum scam.
The government is in for a stormy second half of the budget session beginning Monday, with the opposition set to launch an all-out attack on the joint parliamentary committee’s draft report on the 2G spectrum scam.
The law minister’s alleged interference in the CBI investigation into the coal scam will also give ammunition to the opposition, as will the brutal rape of a five-year-old in the Capital.
Because of the fracas, both Houses of Parliament are unlikely to run smoothly. The government has only 13 working days to get the Parliament’s approval for the crucial finance bill and the rail appropriation bill before the session concludes on May 10.
It also wants to get key legislation — including bills on land acquisition, food security and lokpal — passed, but it remains to be seen whether an aggressive opposition will allow the Parliament to conduct any business.
Moreover, following the withdrawal of support by the DMK last month, the UPA will be more dependent on outside support from the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party to ensure smooth passage of these bills.
On Thursday, the BJP termed the JPC's draft report ‘completely unacceptable’ since it gave a clean chit to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and finance minister P Chidambaram, and blamed former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s government for causing a loss to the exchequer.2012.
A website used by Russia's North Caucasus rebels denied any link to the bombings.
The Caucasus fighters were not waging any military activities against the US, the Kavkazcenter.com website said Sunday.