Zee Media Bureau/Himanshu Kapoor
New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in his last address on the last session of 15th Lok Sabha on Friday said that on certain crucial matters the Lower House has the capacity to rise above partisan politics and find pathways of national reconciliation.
Speaking on the passage of the Telengana Bill, which was approved by Parliament after chaos and heated debates, Singh said that India capable of taking most difficult decisions. “The manner in which Telangana was born is an indication that this country is capable of taking difficult decisions,” the Prime Minister said in Lok Sabha.
Continuing on difficult decision taking in the 15th Lok Sabha, Singh in his address said that the passage of the Food Security Bill is another such example.
The Telangana Bill, which was passed by the Rajya Sabha yesterday to carve out India`s 29th state from Andhra Pradesh, Singh said “We can take pride that this Telangana state, whose quest for being born for the last so many years has seen the light of day.”
The PM said that the Telangana Bill and the Food Security Bill were two landmark bills that were passed in the 15th Lok Sabha.
Speaking on the occasion, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj said the 15th Lok Sabha may have witnessed many disruptions but it passed some of the landmark bills.
"When history will be written, it will be recorded... that the 15th Lok Sabha saw the highest number of obstructions, but on other side it passed some of the most awaited bills," she said.
"The nation awaited for Lokpal (bill) for 40 years, I feel proud that this Lok Sabha passed the Lokpal bill. People were waiting for Telangana bill for years..." she said naming some of the bills.
"My brother (parliament Affairs Minister) Kamal Nath sometimes stirred trouble with his mischief, (Home Minister Sushilkumar) Shinde ji used to resolve it with his decency. Between this mischief and decency was Sonia Gandhi`s intervention, the mild-mannered prime minister, the speaker`s patience and L.K. Advani`s sense of justice, these are what kept the house ticking," the leader of opposition added.
Shinde used the chance to compliment Sushma Swaraj, who accepted it with a smile.
"Sushmaji sometimes gets so angry that I get worried that she will stop talking to me. But the moment she leaves the house, the sweetness in her words can`t be matched even by mithais. I thank her for her support on Telangana," he said.
Speaker Meira Kumar also addressed the lower house for the last time as the speaker and thanked the members fro electing her as the first woman speaker.
"The language in the Parliament was male oriented but the 15th Lok Sabha decided to use a gender neutral language," she said.
She also recounted the work done by the 15th Lok Sabha, naming important bills including the bill on manual scavenging, the bill on sexual harassment of women at workplace, amendments in criminal law to make punishment on rape more stringent, the right to education bill, land acquisition bill, Lokpal bill and bill on Telangana among others.
"We succeeded in finding solutions, sometimes failed," she said.
The speaker then adjourned the house sine die.
(With IANS inputs)
