Parliament logjam: Kamal Nath meets BJP leaders
29 Nov 2012 5:40 AM IST
An end to the logjam in Parliament on FDI in retail on Wednesday appeared in sight with the government giving enough hints that it has no problem over a vote on the issue.
In an effort to break the impasse, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath, along with his deputy Rajiv Shukla, held a meeting with Leader of Opposition in LS Sushma Swaraj and her RS counterpart Arun Jaitley.
‘Presiding officers can take any decision they want in the interest of running Parliament,’ Nath said. Insisting that numbers were ‘not a worry’ for the government, he said that the MPs are responsible enough to decide (in favour of the issue).
Replying to questions, he dismissed suggestions that the government has wasted four days of the Winter session to decide on the issue as it did not have the numbers.
‘From day one I have said we have the numbers,’ he said to a question that the government was ready for a vote only after key ally DMK came on board.
The meeting saw BJP insisting on a discussion under a rule that entails voting alleging that the government had committed gross neglect of Parliament by not adhering to its commitment of consulting all stakeholders before taking a decision on FDI in multi-brand retail.
In such a situation, the only way the sense of the House could be gauged was through voting, Swaraj said. Her contention was that even if such vote went against, it would not lead to the fall of the government but would only show the view of Parliament on the FDI issue.
In an effort to break the impasse, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath, along with his deputy Rajiv Shukla, held a meeting with Leader of Opposition in LS Sushma Swaraj and her RS counterpart Arun Jaitley.
‘Presiding officers can take any decision they want in the interest of running Parliament,’ Nath said. Insisting that numbers were ‘not a worry’ for the government, he said that the MPs are responsible enough to decide (in favour of the issue).
Replying to questions, he dismissed suggestions that the government has wasted four days of the Winter session to decide on the issue as it did not have the numbers.
‘From day one I have said we have the numbers,’ he said to a question that the government was ready for a vote only after key ally DMK came on board.
The meeting saw BJP insisting on a discussion under a rule that entails voting alleging that the government had committed gross neglect of Parliament by not adhering to its commitment of consulting all stakeholders before taking a decision on FDI in multi-brand retail.
In such a situation, the only way the sense of the House could be gauged was through voting, Swaraj said. Her contention was that even if such vote went against, it would not lead to the fall of the government but would only show the view of Parliament on the FDI issue.
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