Rift may cost us polls: Jaitley
Indicating that announcing its prime ministerial candidate will only benefit the BJP, senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley on Saturday cautioned party leaders that any controversy over the leadership issue could cost the saffron party the coming general elections. Mr Jaitley also asked the party leaders to speak in one voice on issues to avoid unnecessary constroversies, especially when crucial polls are just months away. Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi is considered as the top contender for the party’s PM candidate post. A section within BJP top brass is not in favour of declaring the party’s PM candidate at this juncture. “Parliamentary elections at times also become (like) presidential elections, especially when the leader enjoys overwhelming popularity. This has happened in the case of Atal Behari Vajpayee, Indira Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru in the past,” he said while addressing a party function. He said if the next general election became a referendum on leadership, then BJP was “surely going to win.” He however, cautioned that there should be no controversy over the issue of the PM candidate as that would be akin to committing a “hit-wicket.”
“We should not get a hit-wicket. That is a scenario where nobody bowls you out, but you give your own wicket. That is the only way we are going to lose this election,” Mr Jaitley said, adding that the party should not create any “unnecessary controversy.”
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Session may be extended for two more days
Age Correspondent
New Delhi, Aug. 31
The sittings of the Monsoon Session of Parliament could be extended further from September 6 to pass some key bills. This was indicated by a key floor manager of the government here on Saturday.
According to the Lok Sabha bulletin, the Lok Sabha will not have Question Hour from September 2 to 6.
The Lok Sabha bulletin (August 27) says, “As announced by the Chair and agreed to by the House, sittings of the current session of the Lok Sabha have been extended up to Friday, the 6th September, 2013, in order to provide sufficient time for completion of essential items government business.”
Accordingly, the Lok Sabha will sit from September 2 to 6 and there will be no Question Hour during the extended period.
According to the government sources, the sittings could be extended for a couple days.
The government’s priority is to pass key legislations during this session itself as “trouble-shooters” are unsure whether the Winter Session of Parliament will be smooth this time.
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