Congress, not UF, should decide on speaker's election, says Paswan
Outgoing railway minister Ram Vilas Paswan
feels it is for the Congress to take a decision on the Lok
Sabha Speaker since it was the second largest party in the House,
and the Janata Dal and its allies were not in a position to get
their candidate elected to the post.
Paswan said the Congress could
take a decision in this regard and consult the United Front, as the
Congress would also not be able to get its candidate elected without
the UF's support.
He said the people had given a mandate that the JD and
its allies sit in the Opposition and not form the government. The
numbers seemed to favour the Bharatiya Janata Party, he
said, adding that even if the BJP was able to form a
government it would not last long because of "inner contradictions".
Earlier, addressing a press conference, Paswan ''appealed'' to
the new government to accord top priority to developing the railway
network in the North-East and other backward areas, and to initiate welfare
measures for railway employees.
In Bangalore, Congress general
secretary Oscar Fernandes said parleys are on with his
party's allies and the United Front to find a
consensus candidate for the Lok Sabha Speaker's post.
After filing his nomination papers for the Rajya
Sabha from the Karnataka assembly, he told newsmen that it was
up to the BJP to agree to a consensus on the Speaker.
The Congress was in favour of nominating Purno A Sangma for the
post, and he had agreed to become a candidate if the election could be
unanimous, Fernandes said.
UNI
RELATED REPORT:
BJP trying for consensus over Speaker's post
Elections '98
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