NEW DELHI: Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee's announcement that she will bring a no-confidence motion against the Congress-led UPA government in the Winter Session of Parliament met with opposition from the Left parties and a cautious reaction from the BJP.
CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat today said that his party will not back the Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee's proposal.
Karat said the CPI(M) did not support FDI in retail, but added that the move to bring a no-confidence motion on the floor will help the UPA government.
Likewise, the BJP too has not yet thrown its weight behind the proposal, despite the fact that it has been relentless in its attack on the UPA.
And even though the Bharatiya Janata Party welcomed the move, it said that it was keeping its options open as it does not want to create a situation that ultimately ends up helping the UPA government
On Saturday, Mamata Banerjee announced her party will bring a no-confidence motion against the Congress-led UPA government.
"It is very important for the sake of the country that this government falls. And so we have taken a unanimous decision to bring a non-confidence motion against the minority UPA government," Banerjee, the West Bengal chief minister, said after meeting her party parliamentarians.
Criticising her move, Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tiwari said that never has it happened that a party with 19 members in the Lok Sabha brought a no confidence motion.
It has to be noted that if the Speaker is of opinion that the no confidence motion is in order, he/she will read it to the House and shall request those members who are in favour to rise in their places. If 50 or more members rise in favour of the motion, the Speaker will declare that leave is granted and that the motion will be tabled. For a no-confidence motion to be tabled in the House, at least 50 MPs need to favour it.
The winter session of parliament begins Nov 22.
BJP welcomes Mamata's move
Earlier in day, BJP leader Balbir Punj on Monday said that his political outfit welcomes West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee's plan to move a no-confidence motion against the Congress-led UPA Government.
Punj, however, said the BJP was keeping all options open in its endeavor to take the Manmohan Singh Government to task for coming up with reforms hurting the sentiments of the common man of the country.
"We have all options open. We will coordinate with every political party, which is ready to resist the anti-people policies of this government and we will definitely coordinate with Mamata Banerjee and we welcome her initiative," he said.
Stormy parliament session ahead?
With the opposition planning to corner the government on FDI in retail, the UPA's hope that it can pass important bills, especially those related to economic reforms may come to a standstill.
UPA government has identified around 35 bills for the winter session, including some carry-overs from the previous session, reports IANS.
The CPI-M wants a debate and a vote on FDI during the session and has appealed to others in the opposition to join the issue.
The BJP, supported by the trader community, is also opposed to FDI though it did not shy away from toying with the idea during the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) rule in 1998-2004.
Within the UPA, the stand of the DMK is not yet clear on FDI though all allies are together on major issues.
The month-long monsoon session Aug 8-Sep 7 was washed out after the BJP did not allow parliament to function over faulty coal block allocations, demanding Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's resignation.
The government could get only six bills introduced and six passed by either house of parliament in the monsoon session, which lost 13 out of 20 working days to disruptions.
The month-long winter session too will have 20 working days and a heavy agenda.
Keeping that in mind, the prime minister has already met UPA allies. Both the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) are supporting the UPA from outside. The prime minister has even reached out to the BJP.
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