Agencies
New Delhi, July 5:
Ahead of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Japan for the G8 summit, the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Saturday got into battle mode demanding an immediate floor test by the government in parliament even as fissures appeared within the United National Progressive Alliance (UNPA), a grouping of regional parties that projected themselves as a third front.
Though the Samajwadi Party indicated it would support the government if there was a floor test once the Left parties withdrew their support over the India-US nuclear deal, it's still touch and go for the government.
Even with the Samajwadi Party's 39 MPs in the Lok Sabha, the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) is expected to have 275 members - just three above the mandatory half-way mark to prove the majority - to back the government should it face a trust vote in parliament.
Saturday witnessed an aggressive BJP, which has hitherto been watching the unfolding political crisis in the UPA from the sidelines.
Alleging that the Congress-led government has lost its majority, BJP leader LK Advani Saturday demanded that a parliament session be convened immediately and the government prove its majority.
'Even though normally, the house is to meet some time in August, in view of the present situation, my party demands that a session of parliament be immediately convened and Manmohan Singh seek a vote of confidence in the Lok Sabha,' demanded Advani, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA)'s prime ministerial candidate.
Advani said governance under Manmohan Singh's government had been reduced to 'theatre of absurd.'
The ruling Congress was not amused. 'Advani and his party are desperate now. He has forgotten the constitutional laws and conventions. He is welcome to bring a no-confidence motion whenever he wants,' Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said.
The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M)-led Left parties which prop up the UPA government has announced that they would withdraw their support if the government finalised the India-specific safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), a crucial step to carry the contentious India-US civil nuclear deal forward.
External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee is expected to reply Sunday to their letter asking to clarify the government's position on approaching the IAEA for finalising the India-specific safeguards agreement before July 7. Party insiders hinted that the government would also request the Left parties to attend the last meeting of the UPA-Left nuclear committee.
However, Left leaders said they would not attend any more meetings but would instead go to President Pratibha Patil to convey their collective decision to withdraw support.
AGP to vote against govt
Angry over Samajwadi Party's decision to back the government in Parliament on Indo-US nuclear deal issue, the AGP on Saturday threatened to leave UNPA if the Mualayam Singh Yadav-headed party remained its constituent and indicated its desire to have adjustment with BJP. AGP President Brindaban Goswami said his party's two MPs would vote against the UPA government in the event of a no confidence motion in Parliament. He said AGP cannot have any relation with any party which makes friendship with Congress. "The SP should have consulted the UNPA constituents before taking a decision to support the nuclear deal. If the SP does not leave UNPA, we will leave it," he told reporters here. Asked about the AGP's growing proxmity to the BJP, Goswami said it was open to have "some kind of adjustment" with the saffron party in future elections in Assam. "For us, the Congress is the most communal party. To defeat the Congress, we are working to bring all non-Congress parties on a single platform," he said. Asked whether there was any possibility of the AGP joining the NDA in future, Goswami evaded a directed reply saying "our priority is to defeat the Congress and ensure that non-Congress votes are not divided". A six-member delegation of the AGP had met senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj
Print This Page
Terms
and Conditions