The TMC’s strength of six in the Rajya Sabha remains a critical factor and if Mamata does not ask her MPs to vote along with the government, it could mean a big loss of face.
Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee’s last minute decision directing her Lok Sabha members to abstain from voting on the motion of thanks to President’s address had the Congress floor managers gasping for breath.
“When we saw the TMC MPs shuffling around, we felt that they were going back to their allotted seats in the House to cast their vote. But then they all withdrew, and we were astonished,” said a senior Congress MP. After all, just moments ago the same TMC MPs had voted along with the government in the voice vote.
Her voting decisions now have the Congress floor managers on tenterhooks for the trial of strength in the Rajya Sabha. The non-Congress strength is 102, and the Congress has just 71, the allies are shaky so the number game is loaded against it.
The Congress, thus, needs a generous helping hand from the BSP(17), and the Samajwadi Party (4) as well as the independents and nominated members when the motion of thanks to the President’s address is taken up for vote in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday. The TMC’s strength of six in the Rajya Sabha remains a critical factor and if Banerjee does not ask her MPs to vote along with the government, it could mean a big loss of face.
The Congress is contemplating disciplinary action against the MPs who defied the three-line whip and did not attend the Lok Sabha. “The exact number is not available, but about 13-14 MPs from our party did not vote,” a senior minister said.
The government did have a big majority of about 80 when the votes were counted in the Lok Sabha, but this is an illusory comfort zone given the mercurial nature of the allies.
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