The UPA-2 has achieved complete parliamentary victory on the controversial issue of FDI in the multi-brand retail sector
The UPA-2 has achieved complete parliamentary victory on the controversial issue of FDI in the multi-brand retail sector. Just as two days ago, it mustered the required numbers in the Lok Sabha to defeat an opposition sponsored motion aimed at rejecting FDI in retail, on Friday, the government put up a muscular show to reject the AIADMK sponsored motion by a comfortable 14 vote margin with a 123-109 scoreline in the Rajya Sabha.
The voting left a bitter after taste as the opposition parties accused the government of manipulating a majority, and insisted that the they had scored a moral victory.
In the Lok Sabha, the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party — the two regional outside supporters of UPA-2 — had walked out before the vote to facilitate a victory for the government. In Rajya Sabha, the abstentions would not served the purpose, so the BSP voted in favour of the government, and the SP walked out.
As the opposition BJP cried foul and accused the government of using the CBI’s pressure to influence the voting, Union parliamentary affairs minister Kamal Nath hit back at the BJP’s politics.
“In the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, the parties have rejected the BJP’s politics. When the issue of implementing the FDI in multi-brand retail has been left to the respective governments, there was nothing to debate about the decision itself. But in the guise of a vote on FDI, the BJP wanted to embarrass the government and demonstrate that it does not the carry the house with it. This has failed,” he observed.
He recalled that at the time of the confidence vote in 2008, the BSP had voted along with the BJP and against the government. “At that time, the BJP did not recall this CBI issue, but now that BSP has voted with us, it is bringing up the CBI thing,” he asserted.
The outcome of the voting in both the Houses is seen a triumph for Kamal Nath’s floor management skills. The recognition of this fact came from the AIADMK leader V Maitreyan who had moved the motion in the Rajya Sabha.
“Even if he loses this vote, this is a defeat for Anand Sharma (commerce minister) and a victory for Kamal Nath (parliamentary affairs minister), he said minutes before the motion was put to vote. Actually the numerical outcome was sealed on Thursday itself, when the BSP leader Mayawati announced party’s decision to vote in favour of the government. The resumed debate witnessed sharp clashes between Anand Sharma and JD(U) member N K Singh who as the secretary in the PMO during the NDA regime in 2002 had submitted a report turning down a proposal for allowing FDI in multi-brand retail.
Sharma had just referred to the report when the BJP members were up on their feet protesting against his ‘attempts to mislead the House. The uproard led to an adjournment of the House. When the House reassembled, Singh clarified the situation, and that paved the way for the vote to take place. Due to some confusion in the electronic voting system, the vote had to be taken twice.
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