By IANS,
New Delhi: The 11-month-old Congress-led government Tuesday won a decisive victory in parliament by sailing through cut motions after the opposition failed to unite in a battle of numbers over rising food prices.
A day after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asserted there was no threat to his government, the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) defeated the opposition after the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) extended vital legislative support while the Samajwadi Party and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) walked out of the Lok Sabha, tilting the balance in favour of the ruling coalition.
“The government has proved that it has a comfortable majority (in the Lok Sabha). It is unfortunate that the Left voted with the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party),” Congress spokesman Rajiv Shukla said after cut motions introduced by the BJP and the Left were put to vote and overwhelmingly shot down.
Most of the cut motions pertained to budgetary demands of two ministries – petroleum and fertilizers – and sought to express dissent over the hikes proposed in prices of fuel and fertilizers, which the opposition said had led to pushing up the prices of food and essential commodities.
As the day progressed, however, it became clear that the opposition’s hopes of winning the vote on cut motions were set to fail after BSP leader and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati announced that she would stand by the government.
The Congress quickly denied it had entered into a covert deal with Mayawati, who faces serious charges of corruption and is battling cases in the Supreme Court.
As the proceedings over cut motions began in the 545-member Lok Sabha, the 24 Samajwadi Party and RJD members led by Mulayam Singh Yadav and Lalu Prasad walked out saying they did not want to be seen on the side of the “communal” BJP.
With the total numbers set to vote coming down, the government posted an easy victory.
Sitaram Yechury of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) hid his disappointment, saying the opposition had proved a point.
“The purpose of the cut motions was to bring the government under pressure for rollback in prices of petrol, diesel and urea,” he said. “The aim was not to destabilize the government. In a way, we were successful both inside and outside (the house) to put pressure on the government.”
Yechury’s reference to “outside” was to a nationwide shutdown called Tuesday by 13 opposition parties that hit hard life in Left-ruled West Bengal, Kerala and Tripura and affected educational institutions, businesses and road and rail transport in varying degrees in Bihar, Orissa, Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand.
Samajwadi Party activists torched buses in Uttar Pradesh while opposition party members squatted on rail tracks and highways in other states. The day-long strike was called to denounce what the opposition said was the failure by the government to check rising food prices.
As a parallel to the protests outside, the opposition had hoped to floor the government in parliament. That did not happen.
When budget proposals are presented in parliament for approval, a lawmaker or party can question specific allocations with a cut motion. If it is carried in the house, it amounts to a vote of no confidence and the government is obliged to quit.
Earlier in the day, parliament’s functioning was stalled for the second successive day with the opposition protesting against spiraling food prices and slamming the prime minister for rejecting a probe into allegations of phone tapping of top politicians as well as the wrongdoings in the cricket Indian Premier League (IPL).
While the Lok Sabha was adjourned thrice, business in the Rajya Sabha was crippled twice, the second time for the day.
A bruised BJP hit out at the government even in defeat. “The BJP stood by the common man, while the government has betrayed the common man,” said BJP leader Anantha Kumar.