Lawmakers appeal for an all party national government

Shillong, Sep 11 (UNI) Cutting across party lines, Indian lawmakers here have mooted the idea of creating an all party national government to efficiently deal with the political standoff on Indo-US nuclear deal.

MPs Robert Kharshiing, T R Zeliang, Rahul Bajaj, General Shankar Roychowdhury Mani Charenamei, Sanjay Raut, former Indian Army Chief Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Nakul Das Rai, K D Das, Thupstan Chhewang, O T Lepcha, Tapir Gao and Kiren Rijiju have all supported the suggestions that had been proposed by late president R Venkataraman regarding an all-party National government.

In an open letter to the leaders of all the political parties and Lok Sabha MPs, the MPs said more than 25 million people in the country were left homeless or displaced due to the recent floods in July, August and September, affecting many states, especially Bihar, Assam, UP, Orissa and West Bengal.

''Thousands have died. Several farmers had committed suicides in Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala and Punjab. Since 1997, when India experienced its first bout of farmer suicides, over 35,000 farmers have taken their lives,'' said the letter.

''The gap between the rich and the poor is growing. India is growing rapidly while the rural areas are grappling with myriads of insurmountable problems,'' the MPs said.

''The cost of running the Parliament is Rs 22,089 per minute, which means we have already lost about Rs three crores in the endless wrangling over the issue. The same paralysis is gripping the Rajya Sabha,'' said Mr Kharshhing.

In the context of mid-term polls, the MPs said that as per the Election Commission of India, the cost of conducting the 1999 polls was Rs 880 crore. The expenditure for the 2004 Lok Sabha elections came to Rs 1300 crore. It is estimated that the cost for conducting a mid-term poll now would be to the tune of Rs 2700 crore.

UNI