Joint sitting on land bill unlikely

While the fate of land acquisition bill hangs in the balance, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Saturday said the government has not discussed the option of calling a joint session of parliament to push it through.

"We have not yet discussed about joint sitting for the land bill," Naqvi told IANS in response to a question.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), which enjoys a whopping 335 member majority in the 552-member Lok Sabha, the lower house, is in minority in the Rajya Sabha, the upper house.

BJP has 47 members in the Rajya Sabha against 68 members of the main opposition Congress party.

The minister, however, said talks were on with different parties to get the bill through. "We are talking to parties, and trying to get the bill passed in the house."

Official sources, however, pointed out that joint sitting of both the houses is not the easiest option as rules permit to hold one such session, only six months after a bill lapses.

"According to rules, once a bill is rejected by either Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha, and six months have lapsed, the president can call a joint sitting to pass the bill, not before that," an official from Rajya Sabha secretariat told IANS.

Communist Party of India leader D. Raja also said: "Government cannot call a joint sitting until the bill is rejected by the Rajya Sabha and a period of six months passes."

So far, only three bills - the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961, the Banking Service Commission Repeal Bill, 1978, and the Prevention of Terrorism Act, 2002 - have been passed at joint sessions.

Government sources, meanwhile, said talks were on with regional parties which could favour government when the need arises.

In a house of 244 members, a simple majority will be half of the total number, 122 votes in favour of the bill.

AIADMK, which voted in favour of the bill in the lower house has 11 members, the seven member strong BJD, which walked out in the lower house is expected to vote in favour of the bill in the upper house too while talks are also on with Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) which has 10 members in the Rajya Sabha.

Standing in opposition of the bill in the upper house, besides the 70-member strong United Progressive Alliance (UPA), are the left parties with 13 members, the socialist parties of Janata Parivar, which announced a merger recently, with 30 members, and the Trinamool Congress has 12 members.

BJP is also negotiating with ally Shiv Sena, which has three members in the Rajya Sabha. It had walked out in Lok Sabha when the voting was done for the bill.

Meanwhile the ordinance amending the land acquisition act, which was re-promulgated by government after proroguing the Rajya Sabha, will lapse six weeks after the session meets again.

With Lok Sabha meeting on Monday, the ordinance is set to lapse around May 31.