Constitution debate
Constitution Amendment Bill. The Parliament, specially convened to pass the bill, may instead discuss how best the proposed amendments could be put through so that they have an imprint of study, collective thinking and at the same time meet the wishes of the state Congress units. Two strains of thought are perceptible. One, the present Parliament should convert itself into a constituent assembly. Two, the State assemblies should be asked to elect representatives who, with members of the two houses of Parliament, should constitute the strength of the proposed constituent assembly. Parliament can probably take the help of Article 358 to convert itself into a constituent assembly. But the Article will have to be amended and this will require endorsement by at least half of the state legislatures. (Article 368 empowers Parliament to amend the Constitution).
No respite in Beirut
Sporadic shooting and shelling broke out in Beirut after the scheduled beginning of the 55th ceasefire in Lebanon’s protracted civil war. A lull had apparently settled on the divided city in the hour after the ceasefire was due to go into effect. But then the swish of rockets was heard followed by explosions as they hit their mark in the suburbs. The rockets appeared to have been fired from the rightist-held hills north-east of the city, but smoke from exploding shells suggested rightist areas were also being bombarded.
Sanjay’s flight
Sanjay Gandhi flew in to Ajnala, Punjab, from Delhi in his private four-seater Maul plane, which he himself piloted. The president of the Youth Congress, Ambika Soni, and a pilot travelled with him. Gandhi was received at Rajasansi airport by Chief Minister Zail Singh, the PPCC chief Mohinder Singh Gill, and a host of state Congress leaders.
