New Delhi: The prospects of Land Boundary Agreement with Bangladesh getting passed during the current session of Parliament look bleak.
The Trinamool Congress is bent on opposing even the introduction of a Bill in the Rajya Sabha for ratification of the deal.
After Trinamool Congress scuttled an attempt to introduce the Constitution (119th Amendment) Bill in Rajya Sabha on August 19, the government had sought to reach out to it with the aim of bringing it around.
The Bill provides for exchange of certain territories between India and Bangladesh and demarcation of the border as per the Indira-Mujib Agreement of 1974.
The government proposed to Trinamool that it should allow the Bill to be introduced, after which it could be sent to the Parliamentary Standing Committee, sources said.
The government felt this will send a signal to Bangladesh that India is serious in pursuing the issue.
The government also proposed a meeting with the three-member committee nominated by Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee on the issue but it is unlikely to take place.
Banerjee had nominated MPs Mukul Roy, Sudip Bandhyopadhyay
and Derek O'Brien for discussing the issue with External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid.
In an effort to persuade Trinamool, which has nine members in the Upper House, the government underlined the importance of the agreement and listed a number of steps Bangladesh has taken for the benefit of India.
However, Trinamool is reluctant to give up its opposition.
“We have serious issues with this (Bill) which we have expressed to the External Affairs Minister. As of now, there is no change in our stance,” O'Brien said when contacted on the issue.
The monsoon session of Parliament comes to an end on September 6.
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