Polls near, Govt may hold short House session

With elections round the corner, speculation is rife about the Government’s intention to convene a short Parliamentary session to pass ...

With elections round the corner, speculation is rife about the Government’s intention to convene a short Parliamentary session to pass a vote-on-account to help it conduct its business beyond March 31.

While BJP president Venkaiah Naidu called it highly speculative and denied the move to dissolve the Lok Sabha after the passage of vote on account sometime in mid-January, there are reasons to believe otherwise.

With both Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee and Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani hinting at elections earlier than scheduled and with Parliament authorising public expenditure only till March 31, the only way out for the Government to conduct its business beyond that date is to convene Parliament at short notice.

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Naidu tactfully left it to the two-day national executive meeting scheduled at January 11 in Hyderabad. ‘‘After receiving inputs from the state units, the BJP will take a stand and convey it to the Government. It will also discuss the issue with the NDA allies and only then a final decision will be taken.’’

Party spokesman Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi’s comment today that the national executive will be mainly focussing on giving a final shape to the party’s strategy for the Lok Sabha polls only fuelled speculation on an early convening of a short Parliament session. For the first time, the elections would be focussed on good governance, development and achievements under Vajpayee’s leadership, he added.

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