NEW DELHI: Undeterred by the Trinamool Congress's plan to bring a no-trust motion in Parliament against the government's decision to allow FDI in multi-brand retail, Congress on Monday exuded confidence of having the numbers if the opposition indeed went ahead with the move.
"We are fully confident of numbers and will prove majority on the floor of Lok Sabha. We have more than 272," AICC spokesman Sandeep Dikshit said.
Maintaining that policy issues came under the executive's domain, Congress argued that discussion on FDI in retail in Parliament could not be allowed under a rule that entailed voting. "Normally, voting is done on issues which are the prerogative of legislature. But we will leave it for the Speaker to decide," Dikshit said.
The spokesman said 54 MPs were required to sign any proposal to bring a no-confidence motion, hinting that Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee with 19 members in Lok Sabha may not find support to bring the motion.
Congress is confident of dealing with the situation with party sources saying BJP and Left parties were not very keen on bring in or supporting a no-confidence motion on FDI in retail.
The party also clarified that the government had no plan to seek a confidence vote on the FDI measure as it had done during UPA-1 on India-US nuclear deal in 2008 when Left parties withdrew support from it.
While Dikshit refrained from attacking Banerjee, her move was ridiculed by information and broadcasting minister Manish Tewari who said that never in the history of Parliament had a party with 19 members pushed for a no-trust motion.
"This is a peculiar situation that in the history of Parliament, a 19-member party is talking of a no-confidence motion," he said.
The minister rued that Banerjee was reaching out for support to even those opposition parties "which she has fought for the last 30 years". Tewari asked her to introspect as she was part of the UPA government just three months ago.
The minister asked Banerjee to seriously reconsider her decision, reminding her that a time comes in every politician's life when they have to graduate from being an activist to an administrator. "A time comes when you have to evolve from a street fighter to a statesperson. You have to evolve from an agitator to an administrator. With due respect, I hope the chief minister will seriously introspect her decision," he said.
Tewari wondered if Mamata had the right to "veto" the policy in the case of states such as Haryana, Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir, which wanted to implement it.
We have the numbers in Lok Sabha: Congress
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We have the numbers in Lok Sabha: Congress
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We have the numbers in Lok Sabha: Congress
