Agra, UTI to dominate session

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, JULY 23. The fallout of the Agra summit and the Unit Trust of India are expected to dominate the proceedings in Parliament tomorrow when the Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, is scheduled to make a statement on the summit in both the Houses.

Today, Parliament adjourned without transacting any business after paying homage to the assassinated King Birendra and Queen Aishwarya of Nepal.

In the Rajya Sabha, Mr. Vajpayee's statement will naturally lead to members seeking clarifications but it seems that if the Government is agreeable to a full discussion later, and indications were that it was, those could be put on hold. This means the focus could shift to the UTI scandal, an issue on which some of the Opposition parties have demanded the resignation of the Union Finance Minister, Mr. Yashwant Sinha.

However, in the Lok Sabha it seems Mr. Vajpayee's statement would be followed by a full discussion on the events which led to the summit and what followed. The Opposition has already blamed the Government for going to the summit without adequate preparations.

Several members have already given notices under different rules on both the subjects, and on the Manipur crisis, which is also crying for urgent attention. Parties cutting across the political spectrum have demanded that the ceasefire agreement with the Naga group, the NSCN(I-M), be limited to Nagaland and not be applied to territories in other States. The Manipur MLAs are under pressure to get the ceasefire agreement changed by July 31, failing which they may be forced to resign.

At a meeting of party leaders convened by the Lok Sabha Speaker, Mr. G.M.C. Balayogi, immediately before the start of the session this morning, the Government made it clear that it was willing to discuss any subject.

Both the Government and the Opposition seemed to be conscious of the impasse caused by obduracy from both sides during the budget session. They spoke of the need for ``cooperation'' this time, with the Opposition saying that if the Government was willing to be ``reasonable and sensitive'' to its demands for discussion on subjects of public importance, it would not be found wanting.

Today, both the Houses made obituary references to the late King Birendra of Nepal. In the Rajya Sabha, the Chairman, Mr. Krishan Kant, said India would cherish the memory of the King's friendship.

The Rajya Sabha condemned the killing of 13 persons during the Amarnath yatra, and observed a minute's silence in memory of those killed in the Kozhikode train accident. The Chairman also made obituary references to the eminent Tamil cinema star, Sivaji Ganesan.

Three members - Mr. Dalit Ezhilmalai (AIADMK), Mr. Pramod Panda (CPI) and Mr. Ram Murti Singh Verma (SP) - took oath as members of the Lok Sabha, while five members - Dr. Manmohan Singh (Congress), Mr. Indramani Bora (BJP), Mr. Rao Man Singh (INLD), Mrs. Gurcharan Kaur (BJP) and Mr. Kalraj Mishra (BJP) - took oath as members of the Rajya Sabha.

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