NDA to move voting motion in Parliament against FDI in retail: BJP

Zeenews Bureau New Delhi: The NDA will move a voting motion in Parliament against FDI in retail, BJP said on Tuesday after meeting its allies in the national capital. Senior BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad while briefing the media in the national capital also said that they will also explore the possibility of no-trust motion. The winter session of parliament is slated for a stormy start with the NDA joining CPI-M in seeking discussion on FDI in multi-brand retail under rules that entail voting and Trinamool Congress insisting that it will go ahead with a no confidence motion against the UPA government. The NDA, however, was cautious about Trinamool Congress` plans to bring a no confidence motion though it said the government had failed on all fronts and "time has come for it to go." Prasad said NDA would consult all the parties to explore the possibility of a no confidence motion. The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, however, said it had majority and would establish this on the floor of the house if needed. It also countered Opposition plans to demand voting on foreign direct investment (FDI) in retail and said there was no precedent of a policy decision being challenged in the Lok Sabha. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath said Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar would decide on the demand for voting on FDI in retail. "The speaker will decide on the issue in the business advisory committee meeting with other parties on the issues to be taken up," Nath said. Earlier in the day, the executive committee of the BJP’s parliamentary body met to deliberate on the no-trust motion in the upcoming Winter Session of Parliament that begins on November 22 against the UPA government. Today the BJP parliamentary board met under the chairmanship of LK Advani to look at the party’s strategy in Parliament. AIADMK, DMK likely to oppose UPA on FDI Meanwhile, the sources said that the AIADMK led by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa might vote in favour of a no-confidence motion against the UPA government. AIADMK sources said the party MPs, who have been opposing the FDI move, might agree on supporting the no-confidence motion proposed to be moved by the Trinamool Congress. In a major blow to the Congress-led UPA coalition, its key constituent DMK led by M Karunanidhi last night said that it will not support the Centre`s decision to allow foreign investment in the retail sector. "We are not in favour of the decision to allow FDI (in multi-brand retail)," DMK chief M Karunanidhi told reporters responding to a query on what was the DMK`s stand on the FDI issue. DMK had recently refused to clarify its stand on the decision to allow FDI in multi-brand retail. "Small and medium retail traders in Tamil Nadu are apprehensive that Foreign Direct Investment would greatly affect them. We would discuss and take a decision on this (FDI) keeping their interest in mind," Karunanidhi had said last week. UPA confident Unfazed by Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerejee`s plans, Congress looks confident that the UPA government will prove majority in Lok Sabha even if a no-confidence motion is brought or any other resolution on FDI in retail issue taken up under a rule entailing voting.

"We are fully confident of numbers and will prove majority on the floor of Lok Sabha when ever any such motion comes. We have more than 272," party spokesperson Sandip Dikshit told reporters on Monday. At the same time, he insisted government has no plan to seek a confidence vote on the issue as it had done during the UPA I on the issue of Indo-US nuclear deal in 2008 when Left parties had withdrawn support from it. Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari said, "We hope Mamata Banerjee will reconsider her decision about bringing no-confidence motion against the government." He also said that it has never happened that a party with 19 members has sought to move a no-confidence motion.