Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08NEWDELHI2772
2008-10-22 13:02:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy New Delhi
Cable title:
PARLIAMENT COULD ADJOURN EARLY
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UNCLAS NEW DELHI 002772
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
DEPARTMENT FOR SCA
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM IN
SUBJECT: PARLIAMENT COULD ADJOURN EARLY
REF: A. NEW DELHI 2746
B. NEW DELHI 2745
C. NEW DELHI 2714
UNCLAS NEW DELHI 002772
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
DEPARTMENT FOR SCA
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM IN
SUBJECT: PARLIAMENT COULD ADJOURN EARLY
REF: A. NEW DELHI 2746
B. NEW DELHI 2745
C. NEW DELHI 2714
1. (SBU) There are increasing signs that the Parliamentary
session which began on October 17 and was scheduled to run
through November 21, will be adjourned early, perhaps as soon
as October 24, and reconvened at a later date. Finance
Secretary Ashok Chawla told Acting DCM on October 22 that the
GOI has (or will shortly) issue a notification to that
effect. While the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha secretariats
told us that no such notification has been issued as yet,
this does not mean one is not in the works. Shekhar Iyer of
the Hindustan Times told PolOff that the United Progressive
Alliance government and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP) have agreed to adjourn on October 24 provided two
pieces of pending financial legislation are passed by then.
A railways appropriation bill passed both houses today. The
GOI is trying to get a Supplementary Demand for Grants bill
pertaining to the budget through Parliament tomorrow. This
will allow the Parliament to adjourn on October 24.
2. (SBU) The push to a shorter session of Parliament came
after the Election Commission announced state assembly
elections between November 14 and December 24 in six states
-- Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Chhattisgarh, Mizoram
and Jammu and Kashmir (reftels). Political parties with
stakes in these states want their leaders to return from
Delhi to campaign in the field. These state elections are
seen as crucial to the fortunes of the political parties
because they will set the tone for the national elections,
due before May 2009. The betting is that if Parliament
adjourns this week, it will reconvene shortly after December
8, by which time five of the six states will be done. At
that point the only state where assembly elections would
still be pending will be Jammu and Kashmir, a small state
with only four Members of Parliament and, hence, of limited
importance in cobbling together coalitions in Delhi.
MULFORD
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
DEPARTMENT FOR SCA
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM IN
SUBJECT: PARLIAMENT COULD ADJOURN EARLY
REF: A. NEW DELHI 2746
B. NEW DELHI 2745
C. NEW DELHI 2714
1. (SBU) There are increasing signs that the Parliamentary
session which began on October 17 and was scheduled to run
through November 21, will be adjourned early, perhaps as soon
as October 24, and reconvened at a later date. Finance
Secretary Ashok Chawla told Acting DCM on October 22 that the
GOI has (or will shortly) issue a notification to that
effect. While the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha secretariats
told us that no such notification has been issued as yet,
this does not mean one is not in the works. Shekhar Iyer of
the Hindustan Times told PolOff that the United Progressive
Alliance government and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP) have agreed to adjourn on October 24 provided two
pieces of pending financial legislation are passed by then.
A railways appropriation bill passed both houses today. The
GOI is trying to get a Supplementary Demand for Grants bill
pertaining to the budget through Parliament tomorrow. This
will allow the Parliament to adjourn on October 24.
2. (SBU) The push to a shorter session of Parliament came
after the Election Commission announced state assembly
elections between November 14 and December 24 in six states
-- Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Chhattisgarh, Mizoram
and Jammu and Kashmir (reftels). Political parties with
stakes in these states want their leaders to return from
Delhi to campaign in the field. These state elections are
seen as crucial to the fortunes of the political parties
because they will set the tone for the national elections,
due before May 2009. The betting is that if Parliament
adjourns this week, it will reconvene shortly after December
8, by which time five of the six states will be done. At
that point the only state where assembly elections would
still be pending will be Jammu and Kashmir, a small state
with only four Members of Parliament and, hence, of limited
importance in cobbling together coalitions in Delhi.
MULFORD