The Hindu : National : Budget, monsoon sessions likely to be combined

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Thursday, Jun 03, 2004

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National

Budget, monsoon sessions likely to be combined

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, JUNE 2. The budget and the monsoon sessions of Parliament are likely to be clubbed, though no dates have been fixed. According to the Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Ghulam Nabi Azad, the exact schedule for the presentation of the Union Budget, recess to enable the Standing Committees to examine the budget proposals and discussion and voting on the Finance Bill will be decided in consultation with the yet-to-be-elected Speaker of the Lok Sabha.

Interacting with mediapersons after the inaugural session of the 14th Lok Sabha, Mr. Azad said that the process of setting up the Standing Committees for the various Ministries would commence after the new Speaker assumes office.

The Minister appeared confident over the unanimous election of Somnath Chatterjee as the Lok Sabha Speaker. Mr. Chatterjee's candidature is likely to be proposed by the Prime Minister and seconded by the Leader of the Opposition. The situation would become clear before noon tomorrow, the deadline for filing of nomination papers. Plans are under way to file several sets of nomination papers with all major parties proposing and seconding his name; significantly, the first set of papers for Mr. Chatterjee were from the Samajwadi Party.

Mr. Azad said that the election of the Deputy Speaker would take place separately. He dismissed reports that the Congress was ready to offer the post of Deputy Chairperson of the Rajya Sabha to the Bahujan Samaj Party leader, Mayawati. "There is no vacancy there; when the vacancy arises we will see what is to be done." He had recently called on Ms. Mayawati to support Mr. Chatterjee for the Speaker's post. Nothing else was discussed, he stated emphatically.

Apparently, the Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies have not yet finalised their candidate for the Deputy Speaker's post, a position already offered by the Congress and its allies to the National Democratic Alliance. A senior BJP leader told The Hindu that Satya Narayan Jatiya, MP from Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh, and Charanjit Singh Atwal, Akali Dal MP from Phillaur in Punjab, were being considered for the post. The Shiv Sena, the largest ally of the BJP, also wants to nominate a candidate.

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