New Delhi: After a stormy beginning to its winter session on Thursday, Parliament will meet for the second day on Friday.
The woes of sugarcane farmers and price rise is expected to be the main focus with the united Opposition in no mood to go easy on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh government.
On Thursday, Opposition parties and even some United Progressive Alliance partners like the Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam (DMK) had come out against a proposed ordinance to fix the price of sugarcane.
Massive protest inside and outside Lok Sabha forced Prime Minister to step in and announce that the ordinance will be discussed. An all-party meeting has been called on Monday to discuss the sugarcane price issue.
The Central government decided to pay farmers more for their sugarcane after Congress MP and party General Secretary Rahul Gandhi met the Prime Minister on Thursday evening.
Rahul met Manmohan Singh to discuss farmers’ concern about a government ordinance that fixed the procurement price for sugarcane at Rs 130 per quintal. Singh assured him that the ordinance would be amended in the interest of the farmers.
The ordinance said if a state wanted to pay more than the Centre's price, that state’s government would have to bear the burden of the extra money.
Opposition parties and hundreds of farmers on Thursday held protests in New Delhi against the ordinance, but the government appears to have saved face by crediting Gandhi for the decision to raise procurement prices.
The Congress claimed that Rahul Gandhi was instrumental in bringing an end to the sugar crisis.
The party General Secretary also added another feather to his cap with a development package for Bundelkhand
The region spread across Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh will soon get Rs 7000 crore after Rahul pushed for it in Parliament. Even Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan belonging to the Bharatiya Janata Party welcomed the development package.
"We are thankful for whatever the Central Government has given us. I hope this not be only for political reasons but for the progress of Bundelkhand's people," said Chauhan.
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