Opposition ammunition ready for session

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, JULY 22. The Agra summit and the Unit Trust of India's US-64 scandal could ignite sparks during the five-week-long monsoon session of Parliament beginning tomorrow even as the Manipur crisis will demand immediate attention.

The Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Mr. Pramod Mahajan, expressed the Government's willingness to discuss `any issue'. He indicated that the Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, would make a statement on the Agra summit at the `first opportunity', which may present itself on Tuesday. Parliament is likely to be adjourned tomorrow after both Houses pay homage to the late King Birendra of Nepal.

As a counter to Pakistan's media blitzkrieg, a live telecast of Mr. Vajpayee's statement to both the Houses has been planned, possibly immediately after question hour. On the Pakistan President, Gen. Pervez Musharraf's breakfast meeting with editors at Agra, Mr. Mahajan said that instead of having a ``deferred breakfast, there could be a live lunch''.

Besides these, there are several issues which will keep the Opposition and the ruling parties on their toes. Manipur is still burning and the Government has already promised a `review' of the ceasefire agreement with the NSCN (I-M), for which the protesters have set July 31 as the deadline.

A calling attention motion is expected to come up at the very beginning. The imposition of President's Rule in Manipur will also have to be ratified by Parliament.

The Tamil Nadu incidents, including the arrest of two Union Ministers and the former Chief Minister, Mr. M. Karunanidhi, and the Governor's recall, are bound to witness a clash.

The proposed Air India disinvestment and the slowdown of the economy will also come up. The other subjects which would be discussed are the floods in Orissa and Kerala and railway safety, with the accident in Kadalundi, Kerala, still fresh in memory.

The Opposition has already given hints on its attack. The Congress and the Left have criticised the Vajpayee Government for having gone to Agra without proper groundwork. And though they favour continuation of talks with Pakistan, they have alleged Government `failure' in putting across India's viewpoint on normalisation of bilateral relations. Poor media management at the summit has also been alleged.

On Manipur, almost all parties, have demanded that the ceasefire be limited to Nagaland. The US-64 fiasco has stirred financial circles even as it has affected 20 million UTI investors.

The Opposition has squarely blamed the Government in general and the Finance Minister, Mr. Yashwant Sinha, in particular. The CPI and CPI(M) have demanded Mr. Sinha's resignation, and other Opposition parties could join in.

The generally grim economic situation - falling revenue collection, soaring unemployment, crash in prices of agricultural commodities - will give the Opposition another stick to beat the Government with.

The Government hopes to do a lot of business during the session, scheduled to conclude on August 31, with just one holiday, Independence Day. There are 21 pending Bills, 11 in Lok Sabha and 10 in Rajya Sabha, including the Central Vigilance Commission Bill, the WTO-related Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers Rights Bill and Trade Unions (Amendment) Bill.

The Lok Pal Bill and the Women's Reservation Bill also find their place in the list of unfinished business.

The Government hopes to get at least 16 bills passed this session, three to replace ordinances on Indian Council of World Affairs, The Food Corporation (Amendment) Bill and The Livestock Importation (Amendment) Bill.

Another important bill which could come up is the Communication Convergence Bill, cleared by a Group of Ministers, which could mark the dawn of a new communications order.

The impasse in the last session had, in fact, led to the entire Budget being passed by guillotine, for the first time.

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