OOPS and the BJP gameplan

This one is about a conspiracy theory. When the BJP and other NDA Members stalled Lok Sabha proceedings on the opening day of the Monsoon Session on the price rise issue and the next day tried to stall the Rajya Sabha because they wanted a discussion on the Mumbai blasts, the Left believed they had seen through the game.

This one is about a conspiracy theory. When the BJP and other NDA Members stalled Lok Sabha proceedings on the opening day of the Monsoon Session on the price rise issue and the next day tried to stall the Rajya Sabha because they wanted a discussion on the Mumbai blasts, the Left believed they had seen through the game. As a 8216;People8217;s Democracy8217; editorial points out, the aim was to delay the adoption of the Bill now passed in both Houses on offices of profit. The editorial says the BJP and the NDA had hoped they would delay proceedings long enough to prevent the legislation from being adopted so that the Election Commission could proceed with its notices to the MPs, and disqualify them. 8220;Such a disqualification in turn, they hope, will create political instability, adversely affecting the UPA government8217;s continuance,8221; says the editorial.

The CPM is also upset that the BJP had urged the President to seek the Supreme Court8217;s opinion on the constitutional validity of the Parliament Prevention of Disqualification Amendment Bill saying such a reference could only be done on the advice of the Council of Ministers. According to the weekly, therefore, the BJP was actually telling the President to 8220;willfully violate8221; the Constitution and act independently of the Council of Ministers. 8220;This is nothing less than asking the President to lead a constitutional coup against the UPA government.8221;

Stockholding 038; price rise

Against the backdrop of the party8217;s position on price rise, JNU professor C P Chandrasekhar writes that the collapse of government stockholding had helped fuel speculation in the commodities market leading to rising prices of essentials. In the article 8220;Speculative surge in commodity markets8221;, he writes that two developments had pushed speculation in commodities to grow at a faster rate than even stocks. In the first place, liberalisation of trade in agricultural commodities had increased the presence of large private players and then such speculation had been fuelled by the liberalisation of forward and futures trading in India8217;s commodity markets. In the futures market, for instance, if a rise in commodity prices were to be predicted, supply and demand must match the movement of spot prices. For that, stockholders would have to regulate supply. Hence it was necessary that the government did not have large stocks to bring down spot prices, private traders should be able to hold on to stocks till prices rise and the option of cheap imports when prices rise should be ruled out. The recent rise in prices of essentials, he said, was a result of such factors led by speculation.

Rein in the racist regime

8216;Time to rein in the racist regime8217; is the heading for an article on Israeli attacks on Lebanon. Writing before Parliament adopted a resolution on Monday condemning Israeli actions in Lebanon, S.M. Menon also criticises the government, saying official India8217;s attitude towards West Asia displayed a 8220;curious tendency to be several steps behind time8221;. He expresses fears that India could be faced with a request from the US to volunteer troops for the 8220;dirty work of policing8221; in Lebanon. But he hopes India will respond with a firm 8220;no8221;.

8212; Compiled by Ananda Majumdar