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Speaker calls for smooth functioning of Parliament

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI. DEC. 1. The Lok Sabha Speaker, Manohar Joshi, has appealed to political parties to cooperate in the smooth functioning of the House during the winter session of Parliament commencing tomorrow. The appeal was made at his customary eve-of-session meeting with the leaders of all political parties represented in the House.

The Speaker also urged the floor leaders to prevail upon their members not to enter the well of the House and disrupt the proceedings. He is reported to have impressed upon the leaders that since the House would be meeting only for 20 days, it was important that the time available was put to optimum use.

Though both the Government and the Opposition have promised to cooperate, it appears unlikely that the two sides will be able to keep their powder dry for long. The two sides are bound to lock horns on issues such as the Dilip Singh Judev cash on camera tapes and the reported interference in the functioning of the Public Sector Undertakings.

The meeting was followed by a group photograph and dinner hosted by Mr. Joshi. The Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the Deputy Prime Minister, L.K.Advani, and the Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Sushma Swaraj, and the BJP spokesman, Vijay Kumar Malhotra, represented the Government side. Prominent among the others who attended the meeting were, the Leader of the Opposition, Sonia Gandhi, Somnath Chatterjee (CPI-M), Rashid Alvi (BSP), Ajay Chakravarty (CPI), RamVilas Paswan (Lok Janshakti) G.M.Banatwala (IUML), Raghuvansh Prasad Singh (RJD), Yerran Naidu (TDP) and V. Saroja (AIADMK).

Both Houses of Parliament are likely to adjourn for the day tomorrow without transacting any official business, as a mark of respect to the former Union Minister, Murasoli Maran, and the Rajya Sabha MP, K.M. Khan, both of whom passed away during the inter-session period.

Interacting briefly with the media after the meeting, the Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Sushma Swaraj, said that the seven ordinances promulgated by the Government, during the inter-session period are likely to come up before Parliament. She also indicated that the Government would try and bring the Lok Pal Bill during the winter session.

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