Parliament disruption dismays PM

Expressing dismay over the frequent disruption of parliament, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday sought the co-operation of all political parties to ensure smooth functioning of the House.“It is unfortunate that despite our best efforts, parliament has not been running smoothly. I would like to say that it is the job of not only the ruling party but all political parties to cooperate constructively in running the House,” the prime minister said. He was addressing a function after conferring Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee with the K. Karunakaran Foundation Best Administrator of India Award- 2011.Parliament had remained disrupted most of the days during the ongoing month-long winter session on a wide range of issues, from Telangana to Mullaperiyar and demands for resignation of ministers like P. Chidambaram.The session became one of the least productive since the winter session of 2010 that was a total washout with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) insisting on forming a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to probe the 2G spectrum scam. “We should work together to make parliament live up to the role and ideals that our founding fathers envisioned for it,” Singh said. Describing Mukherjee as “my most valued colleague,” the prime minister said he had been consulted on every important decisions of the government.Equating Mukherjee with the Congress leader and former Kerala chief minister, the late K. Karunakaran, he said both were old school politicians with a long and exemplary record inpublic service.“Pranabji`s knowledge of parliamentary matters is stupendous. The wide respect that he commands and his long association with political leaders across the spectrum have proved invaluable in conducting parliamentary business,” he said.Referring to Karunakaran, Singh referred to the award citation that stated that it was being given to Mukherjee for his “outstanding services to our nation.”He said Karunakaran “himself embodied the very principles propounded in the citation” exemplifying the ideal traits that go into making a great political leader.Juventus return to action in Serie A on January 8 against Lecce.