07-09-2008, 04:42 AM
Ailing for long, Cong-Left alliance dies
Nidhi Sharma/ PNS | New Delhi/ Lucknow
<b>Number crunching begins
Trust vote before IAEA: Cong</b>
The number game has begun. As the Left Front finally delivered on its threat of withdrawing support to the UPA Government, the Congress opened back channels to woo as many MPs as possible to help Prime Minister Manmohan Singh prove his majority in Parliament.
As it goes looking for MPs, the UPA does not have much time on hand. The Government has decided to convene a brief session of Parliament within a fortnight to take up the confidence vote before the IAEA Board of Governors meeting on July 28.
The urgency within the Government was also necessitated by reports that a section of the Samajwadi Party MPs were threatening to revolt against the party's decision to support the Government on the issue of India-US civil nuclear agreement.
As soon as the Left declared its decision to withdraw support on Tuesday morning, Congress president Sonia Gandhi called a meeting of senior Ministers at 10 Janpath and directed them to drum up support from all quarters. Minus Left, the UPA has a strength of 226 MPs in the Lok Sabha. To pass the vote of confidence in the 543-member (two seats vacant) lower House, the Government would need the votes of 272 members.
The intra-party development in the SP is a cause of worry for both Mulayam Singh Yadav and the Congress leadership. Despite obtaining certification from former President APJ Abdul Kalam and justifying its U-turn for the sake of "secularism", a section of the party MPs are not willing to accept the new reality so easily.
At least 10 MPs did not attend the SP parliamentary party meeting on Tuesday in Delhi. Reading out the party's resolution after the meeting, SP general secretary Amar Singh said the party MPs not only unanimously came out in support of the party's stand on the deal but also welcomed it.
A senior party leader said that out of the absentees, four were no more part of the SP, although as per parliamentary records they had won the 2004 general elections on SP symbol.
The four MPs include Raj Babbar, who left the party in 2006 and forged an alliance with former PM VP Singh. The other is Beni Prasad Verma, who also floated his own party last year and even contested the Assembly election. He is still an MP from Kaiserganj, from where he was elected on SP ticket.
Ateeq Ahmad, the MP from Phulpur, was expelled from the SP earlier this year, after he was arrested by Delhi Police, and has several criminal cases pending against him. The fourth MP is Munawwar Hasan from Muzaffarnagar, who had left SP and joined Ajit Singh's Rashtriya Lok Dal.
The remaining six MPs could not come to the meeting due to "unavoidable reasons", party sources said. These were Rewati Raman Singh, from Allahabad, senior leader Mohan Singh and MP from Deoria who is unwell, Radhey Shyam Kori, the MP from Ghatampur is also unwell, while Gonda MP Kirti Vardhan Singh could not come to the meeting due to a bereavement in the family.
Afzal Ansari, Ghazipur MP, is currently in jail in connection with the murder of BJP MLA Krishnanand Rai. Rawat was the sixth absentee from the meeting.
In a clear sign that all was not well within the party, Mohanlalganj MP Jai Prakash and Muzaffarnagar MP Munawwar Hasan publicly denounced the nuclear deal and vowed to vote against the UPA Government.
"The Parliamentary Board meeting was a farce. When everything had been decided earlier, there was no need to call a meeting. Mulayam Singh Yadav is trying to give a democratic cover to the party's decision whereas everyone knows why he is supporting the Congress," Rawat said.
He even added that around a dozen MPs were ready to cross the fence, but did not elaborate.
Rawat is the second MP in the last three days to revolt against the SP leadership. Munawwar Hasan, the party MP from Morna in Muzaffarnagar, has also slammed the party leadership for supporting the "anti-Muslim" deal.
Insiders pitching against Mulayam said SP MPs Shafiq-ur Rahman Barq, Kaji Rashid Masood, Chandra Bhushan Singh, Raj Narain Bhudolia and Afzal Ansari were waiting for an appropriate time to cross over to the BSP. Known rebels like Beni Prasad Verma, Atiq Ahmad and Raj Babbar were also prepared to give a further jolt to Mulayam, it was alleged.
According to sources, the fence-sitters within the SP are keen to switch their allegiance towards the BSP for a brighter future in the next elections. Some of them are believed to be in constant touch with Nasimuddin Siddiqui to try their luck with the blue brigade.
Sources in the Samajwadi Party claim that Rawat, who is a staunch supporter of Naresh Agarwal, who recently deserted the SP to join the BSP, was likely to be denied a ticket from Mohanlalganj constituency as Yadav was likely to give a ticket to Sushila Saroj from the constituency.
But Mulayam Singh Yadav rubbished reports that Muslim MPs of the party were opposed to the nuclear deal and paraded them before media. Trying to counter the voices within the party that the nuke deal could antagonise the Muslims, Yadav said the Muslims including in Deoband, Saharanpur, Varanasi, Kanpur and Bareilly have welcomed the deal.
"The India-US nuclear deal has the backing of scientists, intellectuals and experts," Yadav said, pointing out that the party leadership had consulted former President APJ Abdul Kalam in this regard.
Yadav termed as "figment of imagination" suggestions that the SP was in the race for the post of the Lok Sabha Speaker in case incumbent Somnath Chatterjee resigns.
The party also assured Sonia Gandhi that its MPs would be on board. Party leader Amar Singh met the Congress president on Tuesday evening and conveyed the SP's decision to support the Government. Emerging from the meeting, he said: "It is neither a Hindu deal nor a Muslim one. It is in the interest of the nation... There will be no difficulty in the maths of Parliament."
The SP has not technically withdrawn support from the UPA as it had not given a letter to this effect to the President. Singh said: "But we do not want any misunderstanding. So we have sought an appointment with President Pratibha Patil to give our support to UPA."
<b>Sources said there was strong possibility that with Mayawati offering all sorts of 'incentives, including assured ticket for Lok Sabha elections, at least half-a-dozen SP MPs may defy the party whip and oppose the Government. This has revived the memories of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee losing the trust vote by a single vote in 1998. </b>
Congress sources said the alliance is now looking at vote of confidence as a show of strength. It is wooing all possible parties. Talks are on with Janata Dal (Secular) that has three MPs, Ajit Singh's Rashtriya Lok Dal with three MPs, National Conference with two, Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress and single members of Bharatiya Navshakti Party (BNP), National Loktantric Party (NLP), Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) and Mizo National Front (MNF).
The Government is likely to face the floor test next week. The Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs met on Tuesday evening to decide on the monsoon session, which would be convened on August 11. After the meeting, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said: "Regular monsoon session will take place but because of political developments -- like our supporters have decided to withdraw support and they are meeting the President on Wednesday -- we have decided, I talked to the Prime Minister over phone and with his approval I am saying this that we will seek a vote of confidence in the Lok Sabha as soon as we receive the formal communication from the Rashtrapati Bhawan... This session will be called a short session of Lok Sabha."
Mukherjee said the Government would not go to the IAEA board of governors for approval till it has proved majority. "Surely on an important international agreement we cannot bind the Government if we lose majority... We would like to seek Board of Governors approval the moment we get a vote of confidence," he said.
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Nidhi Sharma/ PNS | New Delhi/ Lucknow
<b>Number crunching begins
Trust vote before IAEA: Cong</b>
The number game has begun. As the Left Front finally delivered on its threat of withdrawing support to the UPA Government, the Congress opened back channels to woo as many MPs as possible to help Prime Minister Manmohan Singh prove his majority in Parliament.
As it goes looking for MPs, the UPA does not have much time on hand. The Government has decided to convene a brief session of Parliament within a fortnight to take up the confidence vote before the IAEA Board of Governors meeting on July 28.
The urgency within the Government was also necessitated by reports that a section of the Samajwadi Party MPs were threatening to revolt against the party's decision to support the Government on the issue of India-US civil nuclear agreement.
As soon as the Left declared its decision to withdraw support on Tuesday morning, Congress president Sonia Gandhi called a meeting of senior Ministers at 10 Janpath and directed them to drum up support from all quarters. Minus Left, the UPA has a strength of 226 MPs in the Lok Sabha. To pass the vote of confidence in the 543-member (two seats vacant) lower House, the Government would need the votes of 272 members.
The intra-party development in the SP is a cause of worry for both Mulayam Singh Yadav and the Congress leadership. Despite obtaining certification from former President APJ Abdul Kalam and justifying its U-turn for the sake of "secularism", a section of the party MPs are not willing to accept the new reality so easily.
At least 10 MPs did not attend the SP parliamentary party meeting on Tuesday in Delhi. Reading out the party's resolution after the meeting, SP general secretary Amar Singh said the party MPs not only unanimously came out in support of the party's stand on the deal but also welcomed it.
A senior party leader said that out of the absentees, four were no more part of the SP, although as per parliamentary records they had won the 2004 general elections on SP symbol.
The four MPs include Raj Babbar, who left the party in 2006 and forged an alliance with former PM VP Singh. The other is Beni Prasad Verma, who also floated his own party last year and even contested the Assembly election. He is still an MP from Kaiserganj, from where he was elected on SP ticket.
Ateeq Ahmad, the MP from Phulpur, was expelled from the SP earlier this year, after he was arrested by Delhi Police, and has several criminal cases pending against him. The fourth MP is Munawwar Hasan from Muzaffarnagar, who had left SP and joined Ajit Singh's Rashtriya Lok Dal.
The remaining six MPs could not come to the meeting due to "unavoidable reasons", party sources said. These were Rewati Raman Singh, from Allahabad, senior leader Mohan Singh and MP from Deoria who is unwell, Radhey Shyam Kori, the MP from Ghatampur is also unwell, while Gonda MP Kirti Vardhan Singh could not come to the meeting due to a bereavement in the family.
Afzal Ansari, Ghazipur MP, is currently in jail in connection with the murder of BJP MLA Krishnanand Rai. Rawat was the sixth absentee from the meeting.
In a clear sign that all was not well within the party, Mohanlalganj MP Jai Prakash and Muzaffarnagar MP Munawwar Hasan publicly denounced the nuclear deal and vowed to vote against the UPA Government.
"The Parliamentary Board meeting was a farce. When everything had been decided earlier, there was no need to call a meeting. Mulayam Singh Yadav is trying to give a democratic cover to the party's decision whereas everyone knows why he is supporting the Congress," Rawat said.
He even added that around a dozen MPs were ready to cross the fence, but did not elaborate.
Rawat is the second MP in the last three days to revolt against the SP leadership. Munawwar Hasan, the party MP from Morna in Muzaffarnagar, has also slammed the party leadership for supporting the "anti-Muslim" deal.
Insiders pitching against Mulayam said SP MPs Shafiq-ur Rahman Barq, Kaji Rashid Masood, Chandra Bhushan Singh, Raj Narain Bhudolia and Afzal Ansari were waiting for an appropriate time to cross over to the BSP. Known rebels like Beni Prasad Verma, Atiq Ahmad and Raj Babbar were also prepared to give a further jolt to Mulayam, it was alleged.
According to sources, the fence-sitters within the SP are keen to switch their allegiance towards the BSP for a brighter future in the next elections. Some of them are believed to be in constant touch with Nasimuddin Siddiqui to try their luck with the blue brigade.
Sources in the Samajwadi Party claim that Rawat, who is a staunch supporter of Naresh Agarwal, who recently deserted the SP to join the BSP, was likely to be denied a ticket from Mohanlalganj constituency as Yadav was likely to give a ticket to Sushila Saroj from the constituency.
But Mulayam Singh Yadav rubbished reports that Muslim MPs of the party were opposed to the nuclear deal and paraded them before media. Trying to counter the voices within the party that the nuke deal could antagonise the Muslims, Yadav said the Muslims including in Deoband, Saharanpur, Varanasi, Kanpur and Bareilly have welcomed the deal.
"The India-US nuclear deal has the backing of scientists, intellectuals and experts," Yadav said, pointing out that the party leadership had consulted former President APJ Abdul Kalam in this regard.
Yadav termed as "figment of imagination" suggestions that the SP was in the race for the post of the Lok Sabha Speaker in case incumbent Somnath Chatterjee resigns.
The party also assured Sonia Gandhi that its MPs would be on board. Party leader Amar Singh met the Congress president on Tuesday evening and conveyed the SP's decision to support the Government. Emerging from the meeting, he said: "It is neither a Hindu deal nor a Muslim one. It is in the interest of the nation... There will be no difficulty in the maths of Parliament."
The SP has not technically withdrawn support from the UPA as it had not given a letter to this effect to the President. Singh said: "But we do not want any misunderstanding. So we have sought an appointment with President Pratibha Patil to give our support to UPA."
<b>Sources said there was strong possibility that with Mayawati offering all sorts of 'incentives, including assured ticket for Lok Sabha elections, at least half-a-dozen SP MPs may defy the party whip and oppose the Government. This has revived the memories of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee losing the trust vote by a single vote in 1998. </b>
Congress sources said the alliance is now looking at vote of confidence as a show of strength. It is wooing all possible parties. Talks are on with Janata Dal (Secular) that has three MPs, Ajit Singh's Rashtriya Lok Dal with three MPs, National Conference with two, Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress and single members of Bharatiya Navshakti Party (BNP), National Loktantric Party (NLP), Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) and Mizo National Front (MNF).
The Government is likely to face the floor test next week. The Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs met on Tuesday evening to decide on the monsoon session, which would be convened on August 11. After the meeting, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said: "Regular monsoon session will take place but because of political developments -- like our supporters have decided to withdraw support and they are meeting the President on Wednesday -- we have decided, I talked to the Prime Minister over phone and with his approval I am saying this that we will seek a vote of confidence in the Lok Sabha as soon as we receive the formal communication from the Rashtrapati Bhawan... This session will be called a short session of Lok Sabha."
Mukherjee said the Government would not go to the IAEA board of governors for approval till it has proved majority. "Surely on an important international agreement we cannot bind the Government if we lose majority... We would like to seek Board of Governors approval the moment we get a vote of confidence," he said.
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