Govt says it is not in minority after Trinamool exit

The government today asserted that the exit of Trinamool Congress from the UPA does not affect its stability as it has the necessary numbers and was not in a 'minority'.

"I don't think that any of these recent developments will anyway impact the stability of the government. The government has, and that was answered by various concerned parties, the support of parties other than those who are in the UPA, that number comes to about 310," said Parliament Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal.

Minister of State in PMO V Narayanasamy also contested statements that it was a 'minority' government.

Banasal claimed that the government had the necessary numbers, much above the figure of 272 required for majority in Lok Sabha. "We have much more than that," he said.

When asked if the government would prove its majority on the floor of the House, Bansal said that "there is no such situation, we have the numbers." Narayanasamy said, "Our government is not a minority government and is supported by SP and BSP. Therefore, our number of going beyond 304. Nobody can say our government is a minority government."

He said that "in a coalition government, some political parties will be inside the government, taking part in the decision-making, some political parties will be supporting from outside."

Bansal said there was a difference between "now and earlier (in 2008 over Indo-US nuclear nuclear deal) when others were doubting the strength of the government.

"The Prime Minister took the initiative of seeking a vote of confidence to reiterate and show to the world that we had the numbers," he said.

Trinamool congress chief Mamata Banerjee had yesterday hit out at the UPA government for "hurriedly" notifying FDI in multi-brand retail, saying it had no business of doing so after being reduced to a "minority".