Kolkata, Jun 8: After the pension sector reform bill was put on the backburner following opposition from key UPA partner Trinamool Congress, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee tonight said the Centre would discuss the matter with that party.
“We shall discuss this (Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority Bill, 2011) with TMC and its chief Mamata Banerjee. They have written wanting further discussion.
So, let us discuss,” Mukherjee told reporters here with reference to a letter from Trinamool general secretary and Railway Minister Mukul Roy to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and to him yesterday.
With Trinamool voicing reservations against the pension reform bill, the union cabinet had yesterday deferred the legislation, apparently not to antagonize Mamata keeping in view the upcoming Presidential polls.
On petrol price, Mukherjee said it was expected to come down since crude price was going down in international market.
“Fortunately, crude price in international market is going down. So, the price of petrol is expected to come down,” he said.
To a question on the Madras High Court declining to dismiss a petition challenging the election of Home Minister P Chidambaram to the Lok Sabha in 2009, Mukherjee said “after every elections, so many petitions are filed in court by so many candidates. So what?”
The Madurai bench of the Madras High Court had yesterday declined Chidambaram's plea for dismissal of the election petition against him by the defeated AIADMK candidate R S Rajakannappan in Sivaganga constituency in Tamil Nadu in 2009 Lok Sabha polls.
