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Monday,
July 21, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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PM’s statement on foreign tours in House today New Delhi, July
20 “The Prime Minister will make an important statement on his milestone visits to Germany, St Petersburg (Russia), Evian (France) and China in the Lok Sabha tomorrow and in the Rajya Sabha on July 22,” Parliamentary Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj told mediapersons on the eve of the beginning of the monsoon session of Parliament. Ms Swaraj ruled out a legislation on the construction of a Ram temple at Ayodhya, saying the BJP did not have the allies’ support on it. “There is no question of bringing a Bill on the issue as the allies are not with us on it,” she said. To a question about the government holding a joint sitting of Parliament for the passage of the Bill, as had been done for POTA, Ms Swaraj said for POTA, there was no opposition from the allies. “This is very different from that,” she said. Both Houses of Parliament would also discuss progress in the implementation of Constitutional Amendments, under which panchayats and municipalities had been empowered, over the past decade. Ms Swaraj said the government wanted the debate on the first day and the Urban Development Ministry and the Rural Development Ministry had prepared a background paper on it. On the Women’s Reservation Bill, Ms Swaraj said the government would attempt any new draft only after a consensus was evolved on the issue. She said the proposal on double-member constituencies had been made by the BJP and the government would go in for it only after other political parties agreed to it. The long-pending legislation to ensure 33 per cent reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and Assemblies was not on the government’s list of Bills for this session. Listing the legislations to be taken up during the session, she said the pending Bills included the Lok Pal Bill, the Fiscal Responsibility Bill, the Central Vigilance Commission Bill and the Airports Authority of India Bill. Among the 16 new Bills on the government’s agenda were the National Commission for Children bill, the Juvenile Justice Bill, the Banking Regulation Bill and the Electricity Bill. About the boycott of Defence Minister George Fernandes by some opposition parties, she said attempts would be made to end it. The government also intended to take up a discussion on the Science and Technology Policy, 2003, she said. |
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Paswan to raise Pandya murder case in House Ahmedabad, July 20 Mr Paswan also demanded reopening of the Best Bakery case in which 21 persons, accused of burning alive 14 persons during the post-Godhra violence in Vadodara, were acquitted for lack of evidence. “The case should be reopened and trials conducted outside Gujarat,” Mr Paswan said. Mr Paswan and former Union Minister Arif Mohammed Khan met Haren Pandya’s father Vitthalbhai Pandya at his residence this morning. An aggrieved Mr Pandya expressed dissatisfaction over the manner in which the probe into his son’s assassination was progressing and submitted some papers to Mr Paswan. Mr Pandya was also critical about the accusation by witnesses deposing before the Nanavati Commission that Haren Pandya was seen instigating mobs to violence during the widespread riots that had erupted following the Godhra carnage in February last year. He alleged that the deposition was “government-sponsored.” Mr Pandya alleged that Chief Minister Narendra Modi was to be blamed for his son’s assassination. While assuring Mr Pandya, Mr Paswan told reporters later that he would raise the issue during the monsoon session of Parliament, which begins tomorrow. Demanding Mr Modi’s resignation, Mr Paswan said the CBI probe into Haren Pandya’s assassination could progress in a fair manner only if Mr Modi stepped down.
— UNI |
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