The Hindu – UPA resigns itself to FDI vote

Numbers were “not a worry”, says government; only way to gauge sense of the House is through voting, says Sushma

Special Correspondent

New Delhi, 28 November 2012. The government is now reconciled to the prospect of a voting motion in Parliament on the issue of foreign direct investment in multibrand retail, after all its efforts to avoid it failed. However a clear picture would emerge on Thursday morning when the presiding officers of both Houses meet the floor leaders of all parties.

In a last ditch attempt, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath on Wednesday met Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj and her counterpart in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley here and requested them not to press for a voting motion.

However, the BJP leaders conveyed to the Minister in unambiguous terms that they would settle for nothing less than a motion under Rule 184 in the Lok Sabha and Rule 167 in the Rajya Sabha. Given its precarious numbers in the Rajya Sabha, the government would like to avoid a vote in the Upper House.

After the meeting, Mr. Nath told reporters that though the government was opposed to a voting motion, it decided to leave it to Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar and Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari to decide on the rule to ensure smooth functioning of Parliament.

Earlier, he also met the Lok Sabha Speaker and on Tuesday the Rajya Sabha Chairperson.

Parliament could not transact any business in the current winter session due to the logjam on the FDI motion. The government was opposed to a voting motion as some of the UPA allies like the DMK and supporting parties like the Samajwadi Party have reservations about allowing FDI in retail.

Besides, the government did not want to set a ‘precedent’ of a voting motion on an executive decision. But the Opposition pointed out that in 2001 the Lok Sabha had taken a vote on disinvestment of BALCO.

Sensing that the Opposition was in no mood to relent, the ruling party managers got into the act last week to prevail upon its allies and supporting parties not to go with the rivals.

That the Congress succeeded in securing the support of the DMK became evident when DMK chief M. Karunanidhi issued a statement in Chennai on Tuesday on the decision of his party to rally behind the government in the event of a voting motion, in the interest of the stability of the government.

The position of the Trinamool Congress, whose no-confidence motion failed due to lack of support from the rest of the Opposition, that it is not enthused by the voting motion on FDI has come as a bonus to the UPA.

The Samajwadi Party has not spelt out its stand publicly but indications are that it would not like to be on the same side as the BJP if it comes to voting even on an issue like the FDI.

Asked whether the government resisted a voting motion as it lacked the numbers, Mr. Nath maintained: “From day one, I have said we have the numbers.”

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/upa-resigns-itself-to-fdi-vote/article4143343.ece

The Asian Age – ‘Second generation will fill Atal void’

Yojna Gusai, Age Correspondent

New Delhi, 30 January 2012. At a time when the BJP is missing its patriarch and former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee whose charisma and mass appeal were considered great vote-catchers, BJP chief Nitin Gadkari is hopeful that the party’s second generation leaders, like Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj, her counterpart in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley and Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi, will help in filling the vacuum.

Mr Gadkari is also of the view that senior leaders, including BJP parliamentary party chairman L.K. Advani, senior leaders Rajnath Singh and M.M. Joshi are also “effective” leaders like Mr Vajpayee.

“… it is unfortunate that Vajpayeeji is not in good health… we all miss his active involvement… but then the party has many capable second generation leaders, who have been inspired by Vajpayeeji and will lead the party and the nation in future,” said Mr Gadkari.

It could be mentioned that Mr Vajpayee’s name tops the list of BJP star campaigners for the Assembly polls in five states including Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Punjab. During the 2009 Lok Sabha polls the BJP had issued an appeal on Mr Vajpayee’s behalf to voters of Lucknow (Mr Vajpayee’s constituency) to vote for the BJP candidate.

Mr Gadkari, who has been campaigning in the poll-bound states along with senior leaders of the party, also sees the Assembly polls in five states as the “semi-finals” before the 2014 General Elections. Hopeful that his party will perform well in the five states, particularly in UP and will retain power in Uttarakhand and Punjab (with ally SAD), Mr Gadkari said the “aam admi now knows the real face of the Congress-led UPA government.”

Criticising the ruling Congress for failing at all fronts including economy, bringing down inflation, action against corrupt and implementing development schemes in rural areas, Mr Gadkari said his party has a vision document for the nation. “… you need a vision based on ground realities and effective people to implement it… making tall promises helps no one,” said the BJP chief.

http://www.asianage.com/india/2nd-generation-will-fill-atal-void-826