New Delhi:
The government is pulling out all stops to get its landmark Food Security Bill passed in Parliament.
After promising a statement by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the missing coal files to pacify a belligerent Opposition, the ruling Congress has issued a three-line whip to its members, ordering them to be present in Parliament the entire week.
The session had earlier been extended to September 5 to enable the passage of the key legislation.
The Food Bill, repeatedly stalled due to disruptions over the past two weeks, is scheduled to come up again in the Lok Sabha today. Congress president and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi is expected to lead the debate if it happens.
Despite cross-party support, the Bill will lapse if it is not passed in this session. Though the BJP has backed the measure, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa has declared that her party, AIADMK, will vote against the Food Bill with its "present amendments" in Lok Sabha.
The landmark pro-poor scheme, which aims at providing highly-subsidised food to nearly 70 per cent of India's population at a cost of some Rs. 1.25 lakh crores, is being seen as the Congress's main lifeline as it seeks a third straight victory in national elections, due by May.
But the Bill has been drowned out at least three times in the past few days by disruptions over issues ranging from the coal scam and the creation of a Telangana state to India-Pakistan ties.
12 Lok Sabha MPs from Andhra Pradesh, including seven from the Congress, were suspended last week for the rest of the session for their persisting protests against Telangana.
The government may face fresh trouble as TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao is expected to be present in the Lower House today along with his colleagues. Mr Rao, who led the campaign for a separate Telangana, has been critical of the Congress, which heads the UPA, for announcing Hyderabad as the shared capital of the new state and Andhra Pradesh.
After promising a statement by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the missing coal files to pacify a belligerent Opposition, the ruling Congress has issued a three-line whip to its members, ordering them to be present in Parliament the entire week.
The session had earlier been extended to September 5 to enable the passage of the key legislation.
The Food Bill, repeatedly stalled due to disruptions over the past two weeks, is scheduled to come up again in the Lok Sabha today. Congress president and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi is expected to lead the debate if it happens.
Despite cross-party support, the Bill will lapse if it is not passed in this session. Though the BJP has backed the measure, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa has declared that her party, AIADMK, will vote against the Food Bill with its "present amendments" in Lok Sabha.
The landmark pro-poor scheme, which aims at providing highly-subsidised food to nearly 70 per cent of India's population at a cost of some Rs. 1.25 lakh crores, is being seen as the Congress's main lifeline as it seeks a third straight victory in national elections, due by May.
But the Bill has been drowned out at least three times in the past few days by disruptions over issues ranging from the coal scam and the creation of a Telangana state to India-Pakistan ties.
12 Lok Sabha MPs from Andhra Pradesh, including seven from the Congress, were suspended last week for the rest of the session for their persisting protests against Telangana.
The government may face fresh trouble as TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao is expected to be present in the Lower House today along with his colleagues. Mr Rao, who led the campaign for a separate Telangana, has been critical of the Congress, which heads the UPA, for announcing Hyderabad as the shared capital of the new state and Andhra Pradesh.
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