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With several days being lost in din and disruption, the Monsoon session is likely to be extended till September 5. The last day of the session was slated for August 30 but a final call will be taken by the Business Advisory Committee which meets this evening.
The extension has been worked out with an eye on passing the crucial bills -Food Bill and the Land Acquisition Bill. To assuage the Opposition the governme1nt today indicated that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh may intervene on the issue missing coal allocation files, the time and date of the discussion which needs to be fixed.
The government has relented on the BJP's main demand in order to let the House run as the UPA is desperate to get the Food Security bill passed.
Earlier in the day, there was massive disruption in the Lok Sabha after a motion was moved to suspend 11 MPs from Andhra Pradesh - including seven Congress members for their continuous protests over Telanagana. However it was the Leader of Opposition in the lower house, Sushma Swaraj who opposed the suspension.
The climb down by the government over the missing files in the coal scam, comes after the Opposition BJP made clear that they wanted a statement from the Prime Minister as he was holding the Coal portfolio between 2006 and 2009.
Parliamentary Affairs MoS Rajeev Shukla told the Rajya Sabha, “Prime Minister may also intervene in case it is required.”
Asserting that "the government has nothing to hide and nothing to conceal" in the missing files matter, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath too said in the Lok Sabha that the Prime Minister "can intervene" in a debate on a statement by Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal on the issue.
“The Coal Minister will make a statement. Thereafter a discussion can be held in the House in which the Prime Minister can intervene,” Nath said after a strong demand by opposition parties.
The Lok Sabha has been adjourned for the day.
