Advani demands immediate monsoon session of Parliament

NEW DELHI: BJP leader L K Advani on Tuesday demanded convening of the monsoon session of Parliament "at the earliest" to discuss pressing issues like rising terrorism, the situation in Jammu and Kashmir and spiralling prices.

"The monsoon session has its own importance. But it seems that there is no possibility of a monsoon session although it was announced by the government earlier," Advani said. He was speaking at the inaugural ceremony of the newly built Chhattisgarh Sadan here.

"I would call upon the government to convene the monsoon session at the earliest so that important issues facing the country, including the terror situation, Jammu and Kashmir (the Amarnath agitation) and price rise could be discussed," he said.

The government had earlier announced August 11 as the tentative date for convening the monsoon session but then decided to postpone it. No date has been announced since.

The government wanted the vote-for-cash scam to subside before convening the monsoon session, said government sources.
The probable expansion of the union cabinet to accommodate new allies after the trust vote and the demand of JMM supremo Shibu Soren for Jharkhand chief ministership were other reasons for the delay, they said.

Seat sharing with Samajwadi Party, which bailed out the UPA government in the trust vote, in states like Uttar Pradesh, was cited as another reason.