Thaindian News

New Delhi, Dec 20 (IANS) The government’s plan to extend the winter session of parliament by three days for the anti-graft Lokpal bill would be reviewed Wednesday in the wake of opposition from some parties, Parliamentary Affairs Minister P.K. Bansal said Tuesday.

Bansal told reporters that some MPs had objected to the extension of the winter session beyond Christmas holidays and the plan would be reviewed in a Business Advisory Committee meeting Wednesday.

The date for the Lokpal bill will be decided finally by the Lok Sabha Speaker after the Wednesday meeting, he said.

But a senior minister told IANS that despite the opposition, the government would go ahead with the extension of the winter session by three days from Dec 27.

The move to extend the session was unanimously passed in the business advisory committee meeting Monday but is now being opposed by Shiv Sena and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) members.

The senior minister said the session would be extended and the government would try to convince the opposing MPs.

The houses would sit Dec 27-29 after MPs return from a Christmas break from Dec 23. The 21-day-long winter session was originally scheduled to end Dec 22.

The minister said besides the Lokpal bill, the other two legislations to be taken up during the extended period were on judicial accountability — that makes mandatory for judges to declare their assets and liabilities — and whistleblowers — providing protection to people making disclosures.

“We hope the legislations are taken up for consideration and passed during the extended days,” he said.

The BSP and the Shiv Sena want the government to have the bills passed by Thursday or at the most extend the session by one day. This would mean that the houses will sit on Friday to debate and pass the bills.

Official sources said that the Lokpal bill was likely to be tabled in parliament Dec 27.

The government has taken this decision to keep the promise made by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in August that the Lokpal bill will be passed in the winter session, they added.

It also wants to defuse the agitation of Anna Hazare, who has threatened to go on a fast from Dec 27 if a stringent Lokpal bill is not passed.

The Lokpal bill is scheduled to come up for approval in the cabinet meeting to be held Tuesday evening.

It will be tabled along with the whistleblowers’ bill, Labour Minister Harish Rawat told IANS.

Bansal Monday met Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders to inform them about the government’s intention to extend the session to pave the way for discussions on the three key anti-graft legislations.