Winter Session likely to be stormy as govt set to move Communal Violence Bill

Zee Media Bureau

New Delhi: With the Congress government set to table the controversial Communal Violence Bill, among other important bills, despite reservations from political parties, the Parliament`s forthcoming Winter Session is likely to be a stormy affair. Undeterred by pressure from the opposition, the UPA government will try to get the Bill, which aims at protecting minorities from targeted attacks, passed ahead of next year`s Lok Sabha elections. However, the chances of the bill getting passed in this session are highly unlikely. In the backdrop of recent communal clashes in Muzaffarnagar and communal unrest in other parts of the country, the Home Ministry is keen to push for the proposed legislation. In a recent conference of Director Generals of Police organised by Intelligence Bureau, measures to counter communal violence across the country were also discussed. The opposition led by BJP has strongly opposed the proposed legislation and termed it as dangerous and anti- majority, saying it will harm the federal structure of the Constitution. Meanwhile, the Centre has called for an all-party meeting today to ensure smooth functioning of the two houses during the Winter Session. Both, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath and Speaker of Lok Sabha Meira Kumar have called for all-party meeting to ensure smooth functioning of Parliament during the Winter Session. The Winter Session will begin on December 05 and end on December 20. The Winter Session will reportedly have 12 sittings in which government is likely to introduce a bill to create a separate Telangana state. The all-party meeting assumes significance in the wake of Congress and its allies likely to raise the snooping incident revolving around Gujarat Chief Minister and BJP`s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi. The Opposition is likely to raise the coalgate issue even as anti-Telangana MPs from various parties will oppose the Andhra Pradesh bifurcation bill. This will be the second last session of the 15th Lok Sabha as General Elections are due in 2014. This time, the Winter Session is a curtailed affair due to the ongoing Assembly polls in five states - Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Delhi and Mizoram. With PTI inputs