By IANS,
New Delhi : The government Friday announced that the Lok Sabha will function Saturday, indicating that the discussion on different versions of the Lokpal bill will finally be held.
“The Lok Sabha will sit on Saturday (Aug 27) in connection with transaction of essential items of government business,” a statement from the Lok Sabha secretariat said.
The announcement comes after the government’s decision to have a debate on various versions of the anti-graft Lokpal bill in the house.
“If the debate is under rule 193, if all agree, it can be adopted as a resolution,” Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal said.
The debate was supposed to be held Friday but opposition MPs, particularly from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), protested that they were informed about the debate at a short notice and they didn’t get the time to prepare.
“We were informed at 2.15 p.m. that the discussion will start at 2.30 p.m. We have already given notices in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha for the discussion under rules that entail voting,” BJP’s Sushma Swaraj told reporters.
The discussion has assumed urgency as Anna Hazare’s fast for a strong Lokpal bill will enter its 12th day Saturday.