The UPA government is bracing itself for the last session of the 15th Lok Sabha, hoping to persuade the Opposition to cooperate with it to clear an ambitious legislative agenda.
Six anti-corruption laws and the controversial Bills on Telangana, women’s reservation and communal violence are on the agenda, apart from two votes on account.
The government’s parliamentary managers are working overtime to soften the Opposition, but the BJP has thus far made it clear that it will not pass anything unless there is order in the House.
“The BJP told us that they have no objections to these Bills provided the House runs and no MP interrupts the proceedings,” Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath told presspersons after a meeting with leaders of political parties on Monday morning.
After the all-party meeting on Monday, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj said: “The Congress cannot blame the Opposition for disruptions. The Congress has created this situation.”
The ruling party, she said, had become so weak that Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy returned the Telangana Bill after it was rejected in the A.P. Assembly.
If the Speaker cannot suspend these MPs when the Telangana Bill is introduced, the BJP is unwilling to help pass it. Finance Minister P. Chidambaram stressed that Telangana “will not go away.” The Bill, he said, has to be voted or defeated.
“Otherwise, the problem will spill over to the next Lok Sabha as there will be 17 MPs from the Telangana region and 25 from Seemandhra region, whichever party they may belong to.”
