The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Wednesday, May 8, 2002, Chandigarh, India

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Naik tipped to be Speaker
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 7
Union Petroleum Minister Ram Naik is tipped to the next Lok Sabha Speaker with both the ruling NDA as well as the Opposition parties tending to agree on his name.

Sources said that while names of Mr Naik, Union Tourism and Culture Minister Jagmohan and BJP chief whip Vijay Kumar Malhotra were in the reckoning till this afternoon, by the evening the Petroleum Minister emerged as the front-runner.

A lobby was gunning for Mr Naik and the ruling dispensation sought to kill two birds with one stone, said the sources The government today initiated a discussion with the Opposition to evolve a consensus on the candidate for the election of the new Speaker of the Lok Sabha due to be held on May 10.

Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Pramod Mahajan started the process of consultation by calling on Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sonia Gandhi.

A final decision on the issue would be taken after consultation with the allies tomorrow.

AICC spokesman Abhishek Singhvi said it was part of the process to evolve a consensus on the issue. Some names shortlisted by the government were disclosed by Mr Mahajan to Mrs Gandhi.

Replying to questions by mediapersons for the first time since he took over, Mr Singhvi, however, declined to disclose the names. The Congress, he said, was always for a consensus on major issues and hoped that it would be possible to arrive at a consensus on this issue also. He said the Congress had also begun intra-party consultations on the issue and it was too early to say if the party would contest the post.

Sources said that names of Mr Naik, Food Minister Shanta Kumar, Mr Jagmohan, Heavy Industries Minister Manohar Joshi and Mr Malhotra were being mentioned for the post.

CM consults Montek Singh
Invite MNCs & reform power sector, Captain told
T.R. Ramachandran
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 7
Industrious Punjab can rebuild its economy and put itself on a high- growth path by concentrating attention on reforming the power sector, refurbishing the tax collection machinery and providing focussed attention on its expenditure policy.

This was the opinion expressed by eminent economist and former Union Finance Secretary Montek Singh Ahluwalia to the Punjab Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, and his high-powered team here today.

The Chief Minister, who held intense and wide-ranging discussions on giving an added push to development endeavours in the sensitive border state, was categorically told that he should not be afraid of globalisation or inviting multinationals for giving agriculture a critical shot in the arm.

Capt Amarinder Singh desired converting the state’s agro-based economy into a strong industrial one. He indicated that a high-powered committee of ministers, captains of industry and bureaucrats would be constituted soon to remove bottlenecks and ensure coordinated implementation of the proposed projects.

He regretted the apathy of the previous SAD government which had resulted in the closure of some industries in Punjab. Further, he proposed having an interface with captains of industry as a confidence-building measure in promoting Punjab as an investment destination.

Capt Amarinder Singh visualised tremendous scope in the Information Technology sector and setting up grain-based distilleries. The state government is actively considering setting up an IT park and holding negotiations with Singapore-based firms for this purpose.

Simultaneously, Mr Ahluwalia emphasised that a clear message should go to the captains of industry that there would be continuity in speeding up the process of economic reforms.

In this context, he suggested that the Punjab Government should actively consider coming forward with a Budget which had a medium-term or three-year perspective. That would remove a lot of misgivings in the minds of foreign investors and assure them of continuity and stability at the highest political level in the state.

Mr Ahluwalia desired that the Amarinder government should be result-oriented and should cut wasteful expenditure in the high outlays made for social sectors like health and education.