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Parliament to discuss N-tests fallout threadbare

Both Houses of Parliament, which begin their Budget session tomorrow, will discuss threadbare the situation arising out of the nuclear tests conducted by India.

Prime Minister A B Vajpayee will make a suo motu statement in the Lok Sabha soon after question hour at noon and in the Rajya Sabha at 2 pm. He will reply to the discussion on May 28, in the Lok Sabha at 4 pm and in the Rajya Sabha an hour later.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Madan Lal Khurana told a press meet in New Delhi today that there was no provision for a discussion on statements in the Lok Sabha, and members could only seek clarifications in the Rajya Sabha. However, discussions were being allowed in view of the importance of the subject.

The Congress and other Opposition parties are expected to grill the BJP-led government on the nuclear tests and its failure to solve the basic problems of the people in Parliament.

Although Vajpayee has taken the initiative to apprise the Opposition leaders of the reason for undertaking the tests and the nation's success in becoming a nuclear power, most of them have not given up their stand to question the rationale and the timing behind the endeavour.

This is the first Budget session of Parliament after the BJP-led government came to power.

The general Budget will be presented by Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha in the Lok Sabha on June 1, while the railway budget will be presented by Railway Minister Nitish Kumar at noon on May 29. The status paper on the railways will be laid on the table of the house tomorrow and the economic survey will be presented on May 28.

Khurana said the government was in favour of passing the women's reservation bill during the current session, and had therefore agreed to an all-party meeting to thrash out a consensus on the issue. It is the government's policy and intention to bring this forward in the current session.

The election of the deputy speaker of the Lok Sabha will also be held during this session and the Bharatiya Janata Party was in favour of consensus on the issue.

A meeting of leaders of different parties was held under the chairmanship of Lok Sabha speaker G M C Balayogi this morning. As no business advisory committee has been constituted, the meeting took up the issue of the business for the coming session.

Those who attended the meeting included Sharad Pawar (Congress), Somnath Chatterjee (CPI-M), Indrajit Gupta (CPI), Ram Vilas Paswan (JD), Laloo Prasad Yadav (RJD), G M Banatawala (ML), Arif Mohammed Khan (BSP), Ram Gopal Yadav (SP) and Murasoli Maran (DMK), apart from Khurana who represented the BJP.

Khurana has, meanwhile, decided to consult leaders of various political groups in Parliament to arrive at a consensus on major issues and on the bills to be introduced in the budget session.

UNI

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