New Delhi, April 26: Both Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Monday expressed confidence that the UPA government would comfortably sail through in Parliament by defeating the proposed cut motions on demands for grants and amendment in the Finance Bill.
Asked how confident the government was in facing a possible cut motion against demands for grants and amendment in the Finance Bill, Dr Singh said: "We are as confident as possible." Asked the same question a little later at a function in Rashtrapati Bhavan, Mrs Gandhi also responded: "Of course we are (confident)."
When asked whether the government would be talking to Opposition leaders such as Samajwadi supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav on the issue, Dr Singh said: "We seek the support of all right-thinking people."
The BJP-led NDA and a 13-party grouping brought together by the Left parties have separately announced plans to bring cut motions on demands for grants and amendments to the Finance Bill to force the government to roll back the hike in prices of petroleum products and fertilisers.
However, there appears to be a crack in the Opposition ranks, with the SP, RJD and Left parties hinting that they might not support a division of votes on the cut motions to be moved by the BJP in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday. The BSP, meanwhile, though keeping its cards close to the chest, hinted it would prefer to abstain in case there was voting. "We have not yet decided which way we will go in case of voting. A decision to this effect will be taken on Tuesday morning at our parliamentary party meeting. But it is known to everyone that we are lending outside support to the UPA government," BSP’s Lok Sabha leader Dara Singh Chauhan said.
The BJP is all prepared to demand a division of votes on the cut motions, which will be moved in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday. All NDA parties, including the JD(U), Shiv Sena and Akali Dal, have issued three-line whips to their members to support the cut motions.
"We are moving cut motions against the increase in prices of diesel and petrol and a token cut motion against the increase in fertiliser prices," Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj said.
On their part, the Left, SP and RJD on Monday appeared to have developed cold feet. In a meeting at the Central Hall of Parliament, the trio decided to concentrate on their proposed call for a Bharat bandh on Tuesday, which they claimed would include Parliament as well. They have threatened they will not allow the two Houses to function.
Speaking on behalf of the grouping, senior RJD leader Raghuvansh Prasad Singh said: "Hamare Bharat Bandh ka matlab hai ki purn chakka jam, sadak se sansad tak. (Our call for a nationwide strike means making everything will stand still — from the roads to Parliament)."
Age Correspondent