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New Delhi/Lucknow, April 27: The Congress-led UPA on Tuesday won its first trial of strength in the Lok Sabha with the help of the Samajwadi Party(SP), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) by negating the Opposition members’ cut motions on demands for
grants after voting. While the SP and RJD staged a walkout, the BSP voted along the UPA line. These three parties together have 47 Lok Sabha members. While the SP and RJD staged a walkout, the BSP members voted along the UPA line. These three parties together have 47 Lok Sabha members.
The architect of Tuesday’s defeat of the Opposition’s cut motions was once again master strategist, Leader of the House and Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, to whom the Congress has always turned in times of crisis. Mr Mukherjee’s deft handling of regional satraps like RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav and SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav, and allies like the Trinamul Congress, allowed the government to sail through the crucial vote. He also got BSP leader Mayawati on board to consolidate the government’s position in the Lok Sabha. But the surprise was the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha’s Shibu Soren, a BJP ally, who voted against the cut motion. The move stunned the BJP whose members went into a huddle immediately after the defeat.
The cut motion moved by CPI leader Gurudas Dasgupta on the failure to formulate proper policies on petroleum products was defeated by a margin of 88 votes — it received the support of 201 votes with 289 voting against it in a House of 543. The cut motion was supported by the BJP, its allies and the Left parties. Another cut motion, by Leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj, was defeated 162-246 in a division. Two members abstained.
The Congress, and the government, had been initially concerned about the crucial trial of strength. The Congress core committee, comprising Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, party president Sonia Gandhi, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, defence minister A.K. Antony, Union home minister P.Chidambaram and Mrs Gandhi’s political secretary, Mr Ahmed Patel, had taken stock of the situation. Mr Mukherjee, as always, was the government’s man who paved the way. Mr Mukherjee, however, had promised them that they would be given chances separately to register their protest against the Budget on the floor. Later, everything happened according to plan on the floor: both leaders were given a chance to speak and then they walked out of the House. When he stepped outside the House, Mr Mukherjee was smiling. The man for all seasons said it was an impressive approval of the demand for grants. “The House has approved the demand for grants decisively. It was expected. The BSP supported us and our members were also present. It was an impressive approval the Lok Sabha has given to the demand for grants by rejecting the cut motion,” Mr Mukherjee told the waiting media. He also observed that the debate on the Finance Bill will be taken up on Wednesday and voting on it could take place either on Wednesday or the day after.
Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav’s SP (with 22 MPs) and the Lalu Prasad Yadav-led RJD (four MPs) staged a walkout from the House in “protest” against the government on price rise and other issues. The BSP, with 21 MPs in the Lok Sabha, turned around with party chief Mayawati announcing her support to the Manmohan Singh government early on Tuesday. These three regional outfits had been supporting the government from outside. The surprise element was Jharkhand chief minister Shibu Soren, a BJP ally, who voted against the cut motions. The JMM has two members in the Lok Sabha. The other MP Kameshwar Baitha, who is in jail, did not turn up. A stunned BJP went into a huddle after the defeat and is expected to issue Mr Soren a showcause notice on Wednesday. Incidentally, Mr Soren has not yet resigned from the Lok Sabha and his volte face has set off speculation about a new power equation emerging in Jharkhand.
The BSP’s move to support the Congress was more or less on expected lines. Sources disclosed that for extending support to UPA-II, the BSP was expecting the Centre to get the CBI off Ms Mayawati’s back. That the BSP was ready to support the government became evident when on April 23 the CBI told the Supreme Court that it wanted to consider the representation made by Ms Mayawati regarding corruption cases against her in the light of the favourable decisions taken by the income-tax department. However, speaking in Lucknow, Ms Mayawati said: “We are supporting the government since day one to keep the communal forces at bay. At the time of the formation of the UPA government, we gave unconditional outside support and that is there.” She claimed that the CBI cases against her have nothing to do with her support to the government. However, it’s not merely the BSP which is being probed by the CBI. Regional satraps Lalu Prasad Yadav and SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav also have CBI cases pending against them.
A seething BJP turned its ire against the CBI with party leader M. Venkaiah Naidu describing the investigating agency as “Congress Bureau of Investigation”. While the Yadavs staged a walkout on price rise, the fuming BJP leaders started screaming “Chor Machaye Shor”.
Though the government sailed through in the numbers game with the help of outside supporters and defectors, it realised that the UPA still lacks 272. It has to manage at least 14 members to prove its majority in the House besides the SP, BSP, RJD and JMM. Therefore, it may be pointed out here that without the BSP the government could be reduced to a minority.
During the voting three UPA members — one each from the Congress, NCP and Trinamul Congress — could not come for voting, parliamentary affairs minister Pawan Kumar Bansal said. The government, however, was expecting to ensure the support of 292 members in the House. Interestingly, nearly 20 Opposition members reportedly remained absent.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi were present with the UPA in full strength during the 90-minute drama in the Lok Sabha. The demands for grants were taken up for voting after Speaker Meira Kumar applied the guillotine on the discussion on demands for grants for over 60 ministries.
The Speaker broke new ground when she allowed voting on cut motions relating to ministries whose demands were not taken up for discussion, saying the members’ constitutional right is superior to any rules and practices. Earlier Speakers have disallowed voting on cut motions on demands for grants of ministries which were not taken up for discussion.
After rejecting the Opposition cut motions, the Lok Sabha passed the demands for grants and the Appropriation Bill authorising payment of Rs 46,61,038 crores from the Consolidated Fund of India for 2010-11 without any discussion.
Age Correspondents
