The Hindu : Front Page : Early winter session likely

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Wednesday, Oct 24, 2007
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Early winter session likely

Special Correspondent

In view of Gujarat polls: Chavan

NEW DELHI: The Union government is considering advancing the winter session of Parliament to meet in the first half of November and shortening the duration.

A firm decision could be taken very soon, according to Prithviraj Chavan, Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office.

Normally the winter session begins in the third or fourth week of November and lasts till Christmas.

Mr. Chavan told The Hindu that a change in the time table was being considered in view of the Gujarat Assembly election (scheduled for December 11 and 16) and should not be seen as necessarily linked to the ongoing dialogue with the Left parties on the India-U.S. civilian nuclear deal.

Both the government and Left sources confirm that the two sides were in agreement on the need for a discussion in Parliament on the deal.

UPA ready for debate on nuclear issue

On Monday, the United Progressive Alliance reiterated at the meeting of the UPA-Left committee on nuclear deal the government’s readiness for a debate in Parliament. According to informed sources, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee was willing to give an undertaking that the government would respect the “sense of the house” in the matter. However, the only apprehension was whether the Bharatiya Janata Party and the rest of the National Democratic Alliance would allow Parliament to debate the nuclear agreement.

Pranab’ s offer

According to the sources involved in the UPA-Left dialogue, Mr. Mukherjee asked the Left that the government be allowed to negotiate a safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency, and said the government would not “initial” the document but only “freeze” it, and then the agreed upon text would be made available to the Left. Mr. Mukherjee’s offer was that if at that stage the Left found the text unacceptable, the government would not proceed.

However, he conceded that opening negotiations with the IAEA would amount to a beginning of the process of “operationalisation” of the 123 agreement.

‘No,’ says Left

The Left parties did not agree with the suggestion, and, according to one source, it was pointed out to the government that it would amount to a much greater loss of face for India to tell the international community at that stage that there was no domestic consensus.

The Left parties pointed out that while India would be making a commitment to the IAEA to place some of its nuclear reactors under “safeguards in perpetuity,” there was no corresponding assurance that the government would be able to make the Nuclear Suppliers Group guarantee fuel supply in perpetuity.

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