CPI's missive to PM against curtailing Parliament

New Delhi, May 15: Aggrieved over the government's move to cut short the current session of Parliament by at least four days, the CPI today dashed a missive to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh seeking his immediate intervention to allow the business of the two Houses till May 22, when it is officially scheduled to end.

''Parliament must be allowed to function till 22nd of this month,'' CPI floor leader in the Lok Sabha Gurudas Dasgupta said in a letter to Dr Singh.

At a hurried press conference, the CPI leader said the letter impressed upon the Prime Minister that ''such a move only displays contempt for the Parliamentary system''.

Mr Dasgupta later told UNI that the government was likely to end the session on Thursday, adding that while he personally felt very sorry for the ''most useless UPA government'', the Left as a whole felt much aggrieved.

He wanted to know from the Prime Minister what he himself and his Council of Ministers had been doing if they had not drafted the Workers Bill for the Unorganised Workers so far despite the repeated assurance by the Labour Minister on the floor of the House.

''We have so many other important issues for discussion - the six US Senators pressing the Prime Minister on the Indo-US deal, Women's Reservation Bill, the price rise, SEZ, Land Auction Bill, fake encounters and problems of beedi workers among others,'' Mr Dasgupta said, adding that during his 20 years in Parliament, he had not come across such a ''nikkammi sarkar(inefficient government)'' which had come out with the proposal to curtail the session.

CPI Deputy Leader in the Lok Sabha C K Chindrappan, Chief Whip Ajoy Chakraborty and senior leader S Sudhakar Reddy were also present.

The CPI leaders also came down heavily on the main opposition - the BJP for contributing towards stalling the proceedings of Parliament which, they alleged, wanted to make India ''another Bangladesh and Pakistan by destroying Indian Parliamentary system of democracy.'' ''It is strange that the government has no business to conduct.

We already lost as many as 19 hours last week... It is unfortunate that the Chief Whip of the Congress was seen asking for suspension of the proceedings one day,'' the CPI leader deplored.

Terming the government as ''radarless and directionless'', Mr Dasgupta said the Left took strong exception to the government's ''contemptuous attitude towards the institution of Parliament.'' He said both the government and the main Opposition party, who were playing a ''mila jula khel(hand in glove)'' on this issue had made a ''laughing stock'' of Parliament.

Reminding the government of the recent All Party Meet decision on conducting at least 100-day business a year, The CPI leader regretted that the government itself was not willing to discharge its duty in this regard.

On the misconduct of certain MPs who reportedly brought disrepute to the institution by involving themselves in human trafficking even when they had diplomatic immunity and certain other privileges, he said, ''The country must have an effective legal mechanism to contain this trend.''

UNI