Ramesh reaches out to Oppn for land bill support

The UPA managers have reached out to the opposition camp to pass key bills in the upcoming winter session of Parliament, slated to start in mid-November. Saubhadra Chatterji reports.

The UPA managers have reached out to the opposition camp to pass key bills in the upcoming winter session of Parliament, slated to start in mid-November.

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In the last two days, rural development minister Jairam Ramesh got in touch with key BJP leaders to pass the National Land Acquisition and Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill.

After much delay, the bill was introduced in Parliament in the last monsoon session.

Earlier, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee approached Yashwant Sinha, chairman of the parliamentary standing committee on finance, to help the government pass some long-pending bills related to reforms.

These moves have come amid the government's repeated message to civil society - the new-found opposition group of the UPA - that the government aims to pass the Lokpal Bill during the winter session.

Keen to pass the land bill ahead of next year's assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Ramesh met leader of opposition (LoP) in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley on Wednesday and Lok Sabha's LoP Sushma Swaraj on Thursday.

Ramesh had also written a letter to Sumitra Mahajan, chairperson of the parliament's standing committee on rural development, which is now reviewing the bill.

"As the principal opposition party plays an important role in passing the bill, I also decided to meet its two top leaders in Parliament," Ramesh told HT.

According to sources in the rural development ministry, Jaitley assured of his support to pass the bill quickly.

In the last parliament session, the UPA could introduce just 14 bills against the target of 32 and managed to pass only 10 out of the planned 35 bills.

Mukherjee reportedly requested Sinha to adopt the pending reports on key bills, such as the Insurance Act amendment, pension fund and banking reforms. The UPA is also keen to pass the Lokpal Bill. The standing committee reviewing the Lokpal Bill, headed by Congress' Abhishek Manu Singhvi, has also decided to submit its report in the winter session.