The Congress is “aware” of its government’s dwindling majority in parliament, but its floor managers have been exuding confidence over surviving the separate cut motions to be moved by the BJP and a conglomerate of 13 ‘non-UPA, non-NDA parties’ in the coming week.
The Congress is “aware” of its government’s dwindling majority in parliament, but its floor managers have been exuding confidence over surviving the separate cut motions to be moved by the BJP and a conglomerate of 13 ‘non-UPA, non-NDA parties’ in the coming week.
Could the reason for this confidence be a tacit ‘deal’ between the Congress-led UPA government and Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)? The government’s flirtations with the BSP over some controversial issues in the past few days seem to suggest so.
On Friday, the CBI told the Supreme Court it would consider a representation made by the UP chief minister for closure of proceedings against her in a Disproportionate Assets (DA) case because of favourable orders by tax authorities.
The CBI’s submission came a day after the Centre informed the apex court that Mayawati’s controversial 50 hectare public park dedicated to Dr BR Ambedkar was not in a reserved forest area and not covered under the environment impact assessment (EIA) notification. One year back, the SC had stayed the inauguration of the park.
The Centre’s soft line towards the BSP supremo is understandable. The Congress has the assured support of 262 members but its floor managers tip UPA’s strength at 274 in the lower house, just two more than the halfway mark. Plausibly then, the BSP with its 21 MPs in Lok Sabha could be a prize catch.
Though the Congress isn’t pinning its hopes on getting the BSP flock to vote in its favour in a cut motion, the UPA’s floor managers are “looking at a possibility where the party MPs would either walk out or abstain”.
Despite this, the Congress is not willing to put all its eggs in the same basket. The party is sending feelers to independent MPs, like former JD (U) leader Digvijay Singh. Jaswant Singh and Jaya Prada who’ve been expelled from the BJP and the SP, are also being approached.
Another reason for the Congress’s buoyant mood is that none of the 13 parties from the ‘non-UPA, non-NDA’ bloc which has 88 MPs, have issued a whip.
A Congress leader evolving the floor strategy said, “Parties moving the cut motion are doing it to score brownie points. It doesn’t threaten our stability. We will sail through.”
The Congress has issued a whip to its members and also asked UPA allies to follow suit. The Left-parties that constitute a majority of ‘non-UPA, non-NDA’ bloc have said they are not aiming to topple the government. “There is speculation that we are seeking to remove the government. The issue is not of destabilising but of price rise,” CPI (M) leader Sitaram Yechury said.
On its part, the BSP is keeping its cards close to its chest. “We are yet to take a decision on the cut motion,” a party leader said.
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