Govt has 46 Bills lined up

The government has lined up 46 Bills, some new, others already introduced in both Houses, for the 17-day winter session of Parliament, but it seems highly unlikely that many of them will see the light of day.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad today said the government was open to the idea of extending the session after a break for Christmas.

"If the Opposition agrees, we are open to the idea of extending the session after a Christmas break. There are enough precedents," he said.

With the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) planning to aggressively take on the government on issues such as inflation, the spat between Cabinet Ministers Lalu Prasad and Ram Vilas Paswan, the Shankar-acharya issue and the return of tainted minister Shibu Soren, it is very likely that the winter session will be just as stormy as the inaugural and Budget session.

"The government is in a minority on certain disinvestment issues, on inviting foreign direct investment in retail and on tainted ministers. We also want to call the Left's bluff on their pro-poor stance by a discussion under Section 184," said BJP parliamentary party spokesman V K Malhotra.

Among the many Bills, lined up for this session, are the Banking Regulation (Am-endment) and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill, the Securities Law (Amendment) Bill, the Special Economic Zones Bill, the Government Securities Bill and the patents Bill.

The repeal of the Prevention of Terrorist Activities (POTA) Act will also come up for vote. Of these the patents Bill and the POTA repeal Bill are expected to see some fireworks. According to Malhotra, the BJP will oppose the repeal of POTA and has "reservations" about the patent Bill.

"We will discuss the matter with our National Democratic Alliance (NDA) partners tomorrow, and decide our stand on the patents Bill," said Malhotra.

The BJP will also be protesting outside the House over rising inflation, with all top leaders including former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee participating. A structured debate has also been sought on the issue.

"Apart from inflation, we have served 65 notices for discussions on issues such as the destruction of the dignity of the Cabinet by the public spat between Lalu Yadav and Paswan," he said.

"It is the first time that a Cabinet Minister has raised the bogey of a CBI enquiry against another Cabinet minister," he said.

Azad on the other hand defended the short session saying "if the Opposition was so keen to conduct business then why did they allow the Budget to be passed without discussion."

The last session lasted nearly three months, with not even three days worth of business conducted, he added.

Azad reiterated that all parties had promised to make sure that the business of the House was conducted in a constructive manner. The BJP and other Opposition members, however, seem to have their ammunition ready for another short stormy session.