Parliament deadlock: PM talks to Vajpayee

After a telephonic talk with senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday expressed the hope that the present deadlock in Parliament over the opposition's demand for ouster of 'tainted' ministers would be resolved soon.

Singh had spoken to Vajpayee, the National Democratic Alliance chairman, as well as the leader of the opposition Lal Kishenchand Advani and had urged them to ensure normal functioning of the two Houses.

"This morning I spoke to Vajpayee and Advani and repeated my request that regardless of our differences we should let Parliament function and all these issues can be discussed," the prime minister said after the Defence Investiture at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Asked what their response was, he said, "We hope there is something. Let us see."

When told that tomorrow was a 'big day' (Railway Budget will be presented) in Parliament, Singh said, "Every day is a big day in Parliament."

The prime minister's fresh initiative came after Parliament's working continued to remain blocked on the issue of 'tainted' ministers.

Asserting that the focus of the new government would be on implementation of the United Progressive Alliance's Common Minimum Programme, Singh said the new government had not got adequate time for the exercise of preparing the Budget.

"Normally such an exercise starts in November or December. We hardly got a month," the prime minister said.

Asked about his recent visit to look into the problems being faced by farmers in Andhra Pradesh, he said the plight of the peasants was due to increasing commercialisation of Indian agriculture, lack of comprehensive insurance schemes and credit policies.