Manmohan Singh hopes Winter Session will be peaceful, productive

New Delhi, Nov 22 (ANI): The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, on Tuesday described the Winter Session of Parliament as very crucial, and hoped its proceedings would be peaceful, smooth and result-oriented.

"I sincerely hope that this session of Parliament will move smoothly. The government is committed to discuss all issues. All political parties would recognize we have important legislation for this country, Dr. Singh told reporters before entering parliament.

"I hope the political parties will resist boycott. I appeal to all the parties to work together for the country," Dr. Singh said, while apparently referring to the opposition National Democratic Alliance's (NDA's) warning that it would boycott any proceeding in parliament in which Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram spoke, as it felt that he had played a significant role in the 2G spectrum scam.

The Winter Session of Parliament, which begins today, is expected to be stormy affair with a determined opposition ready to corner the government on issues of price rise, black money and the 2G Spectrum allocation scam.

Not just the BJP, even the Left is sharpening its knives. The Left parties would jointly move an adjournment motion on price rise in both Houses of Parliament today.

During the session, the Left parties would also coordinate with other parties on major issues like corruption, especially the 2G scam and black money.

The CPI-M, CPI, RSP and the Forward Bloc would demand the adoption of an effective Lokpal in this Parliament session itself. The parties would strongly oppose the Pension Bill and appeal to the entire Opposition to unitedly defeat its passage.

Some key UPA allies like Trinamool Congress have also expressed their displeasure over price rise. It could also see opposition unity on the issue of corruption in the wake of new CAG reports on the issue as well as the 2G scam.

With assembly elections in five states, including Uttar Pradesh, scheduled for early next year, developments in these states may also echo in Parliament. (ANI)