UPA's Survival On 22nd July? And Aftermath

[acharya]

<b>
JD(S) denies switching loyalty to UPA</b>

New Delhi (PTI): JD(S) on Monday scotched rumours that the party might change its decision to vote against the UPA in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.

"There cannot be any change in our stand. All our three MPs are going to vote against the UPA government," JD(S) Secretary General Danish Ali said when asked to comment on the rumours in the political circles.

He alleged that such rumours have been floated by the ruling camp out of "sheer nervousness" ahead of tomorrow's vote.

"It is one more attempt by the political rivals of JD(S) to tarnish the image of the party and its leader H D Deve Gowda," he said.

[acharya]

<b>

U.S. ready to do business even with a minority government</b>

WASHINGTON: Ahead of the crucial trust vote that will decide the fate of the United Progressive Alliance government, the U.S. on Monday said it will move forward on the nuclear deal with any dispensation in New Delhi — even if it is in minority.

Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Richard Boucher said the Bush administration will have no problem in dealing with a minority government as “minority governments are common around the world.”

“I don’t have them off the top of my head, but I mean, minority governments are common around the world,” he said.

“You can’t say, ‘Oh, well, we are going to stop dealing with you till the next election or until some new coalition or something. That’s not for us to say,” Mr. Boucher said commenting on the future of the nuclear deal if the UPA government fails to win the confidence vote. — PTI

[acharya]

<b>
Disinformation campaign: BJP</b>

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: Persistent reports circulating throughout the day in Parliament House, that the Bharatiya Janata Party will look the other way or condone absenteeism of its MPs on Tuesday when votes are to be cast to decide the fate of the Manmohan Singh government, were strongly denied by party leader Sushma Swaraj late on Monday evening.

Ms. Swaraj said: “A desperate government is now resorting to a disinformation campaign that the BJP wants the government to survive.”

She pointed out that the entire party machinery was straining every nerve to ensure full attendance of its MPs and their participation in the vote on the motion of confidence moved by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday.

She denied that the BJP had become wary after Ms. Mayawati of the Bahujan Samaj Party was projected as a prime ministerial candidate of an alternative government by some parties in the Left and the United National Progressive Alliance (UNPA).

Party managers said the BJP had taken great pains to make extraordinary arrangements to fly in at least four MPs who were undergoing treatment in different hospitals, including film star turned MP Dharmendra representing Bikaner.

He arrived in the capital from the United States where he has recently had a knee replacement surgery.

Party leaders said the BJP wanted the government to fall, would make every attempt to see it does, and would welcome an early opportunity to go to the polls so that the people can give it a fresh mandate.

[acharya]

<b>

An endgame with no clear winners reality check</b>

Siddharth Varadarajan

Whether the UPA government survives or falls, none of the principal protagonists will be able to walk away from the present stand-off with a sense of having accomplished their long-run objectives.

- PHOTO: SHANKER CHAKRAVARTY

Mayawati. has compelling reasons to go flat out to unseat the government.

When a patient is staring death in the face, the dividing line between self-preservation and self-destruction can be rather thin. In medieval times, leeches were often attached to a dying patient’s body in the belief that the ‘bad’ blood they drew out would help breathe life into him. But even if this drastic remedy worked, the doctor had to know when it was safe to cast aside the pet parasites. Let them feed too long and the sick man might never recover; remove them too soon and they may not have time to deliver their ‘cure.’

Ever since the Left parties withdrew their support to the United Progressive Alliance, the Congress party has sought to prolong the life of the government it leads by resorting to leech therapy. Beginning with the Samajwadi Party, it has struck deals with a range of parties and individuals to ensure at least 271 votes when the confidence motion is put to test on July 22. Some of these deals involve concessions that are in the public domain — a file speeded up here, a Cabinet berth promised there — but the most critical indulgences sought and granted are the ones not being advertised. Whatever they are, these deals could prove counterproductive for the Congress at four levels. First, the perception has gotten around that the UPA will go to any length to win this vote, even if this means accommodating demands that ought not to be accommodated. The Congress may carry the day but its reputation will have been diminished as a result. Second, creating the impression that the SP’s pet agendas will be pursued with vigour has given Bahujan Samaj Party leader Mayawati a compelling reason to go flat out to unseat the government. Third, the impression that one section of big capital is being pandered to has galvanised another section into action, and it is far from clear what the overall effect of this corporate intervention will be for the Congress. Fourth, the understanding with the SP is clearly not momentary. As it matures into a full-fledged political alliance involving seat-sharing in Uttar Pradesh, the compact will represent the Congress’s formal abandonment of any hope of revival in India’s politically most important state.

To the negative consequences of this naked power play must be added the folly of submitting the fate of the party and government to the dictates of the American electoral datebook rather than the rhythms of the Indian political system. It is no secret that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi are moving full speed ahead on the nuclear deal because the Bush administration will relinquish office at the end of the year. Though there is no reason to expect that a delay on India’s part will lead to better terms as and when the nuclear deal is finally operationalised, there was also no reason to assume the threads of the current process would be impossible to pick up once a new president is installed in the White House in January 2009. To argue that is to lend credence to the fears many have expressed about the next U.S. president and Congress not being in synch with the understandings the Bush administration leaves behind on issues ranging from the significance of the Hyde Act’s preambular sections to the precise meaning of some of the provisions of the 123 agreement.

If the Congress was unable to carry the Left along and believed the nuclear deal to be an issue of such urgency, it should have sought a fresh electoral mandate as early as last November. That is the time when, according to the Prime Minister’s advisers, Dr. Manmohan Singh realised the Left would never allow him to proceed. Instead, the party dithered for a whole year — allowing the fatal perception to gain ground that its government was paralysed by indecisiveness — before taking the final desperate plunge on July 8. If the Congress squandered the better part of its reputation by doing nothing for a whole year, it is now destroying what remains by trying to do too much, too soon.

As it stands today, the nuclear deal’s contours address most if not all of the major concerns the Department of Atomic Energy had raised in the course of the debate over the past two years. If implemented in the way it is promised, it would increase the country’s energy options in the long-run. But no deal is so good that it merits the short-circuiting of democratic propriety through horse-trading or worse.

If the Congress suffers from a lack of credibility, it largely has itself to blame. In July 2005, it made two fatal blunders. First, it oversold the energy argument by falsely suggesting imported nuclear power could be the answer to India’s electricity needs in the short or even medium term rather than being a modest, but no less necessary, additionality. Second, it marketed the nuclear deal as the cornerstone of a strategic alliance with the U.S., without realising that Indians are deeply ambivalent about such a partnership with Washington. It then compounded this blunder by capitulating to American pressure over Iran in 2005 and 2006, something which is evident even today in the complete lack of urgency with which negotiations over the Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline are being pursued. Yet another blunder was committed in 2006 when the Indian leadership failed to impress upon the American side in a timely fashion the problems that had emerged in the Hyde legislative process. When the Hyde Act was finally passed in a form that India found problematic, the government brushed aside its implications rather than identifying and taking specific steps to insulate the country from any future American pressure.

As a result, even though the DAE-led negotiating team finally produced a safeguards text that provides a framework to address India’s concerns, the government has been unable to win the battle for public opinion. Even if the government wins the trust vote on Tuesday, the Prime Minister and the Congress will not be able to live down the taint of impropriety surrounding their victory. Since the maximum controversy has been caused by specific conditions embedded in the Hyde Act and 123 agreement, it is only fair that the decision on operationalising these be left to the government which comes to power after another general election. Dissolving the House and calling for elections after the Nuclear Suppliers Group amends its guidelines to provide India a clean, clear and unconditional exemption would be the morally and politically correct thing to do. The safeguards agreement makes it clear that there is no “auto-pilot” since the first Indian reactor will be subject to IAEA scrutiny only after separate fuel supply arrangements are tied up after the 123 is ratified by the U.S. Congress. However, precisely because there are misgivings in both countries — as well as differences in interpretation — about several clauses in the 123, it is best if the decision on operationalising that agreement were made after elections are held in both India and the U.S.
Strategic alliance

- PHOTO: SUBIR ROY

Mulayam Singh Yadav. the Congress-SP understanding is clearly not momentary.
<b>
For the Left, the biggest danger is that most of the parties working alongside it to topple the UPA government are actually ardent champions of a strategic alliance with the United States. In his recent interview to The Hindu, BJP leader L.K. Advani made this clear several times. Other NDA and UNPA constituents such as the Akali Dal, Shiv Sena, Telugu Desam Party and Biju Janata Dal are also openly pro-American. As for Mayawati and the Bahujan Samaj Party, there is nothing in her programme or speeches to suggest she is at all averse to the underlying trend in the bilateral relationship with the U.S. — especially military-to-military cooperation, which has emerged as the foundation.</b>

If the UPA wins the trust vote, the Samajwadi Party will not stand in the way of an accelerated strategic partnership. Indeed, the U.S. will use the opportunity to press on the gas pedal on some of its other key demands such as the opening up of the insurance sector. But if the UPA loses and fresh elections are held in November, the Left may well find its ability to influence the Centre has diminished.

Who then is likely to emerge the winner from this stand-off? For the U.S., the nuclear deal is of peripheral interest; what really matters to Washington is its ability to shape India’s strategic choices through military interoperability and acquisitions and a range of other forms of engagement. The arrangement which prevailed in Delhi till July 8 was the worst possible one from an American point of view because of the Left’s ability to calibrate the degree of this engagement. This ability was not always used effectively — even as it has vetoed the nuclear deal, for example, military-to-military cooperation continues to proceed at breakneck speed — but the Left’s presence was always an irritant. Now that the Left is out, Washington is confident that in any of three emerging political scenarios — a Congress-led coalition minus the Left, a BJP-led coalition, or a weak Third Front with Congress or even BJP support — the Communists would wield less influence than they do today. Even in a Mayawati-led front, the nuclear deal may remain paralysed but there is an odds-on chance that the underlying strategic agenda will surge ahead.

In an article written soon after the 123 text was made public, I had suggested that one way for India to nail down any ambiguities of interpretation in the 123 agreement was to balance the U.S. Hyde Act with an amendment to the Indian Atomic Energy Act “making it illegal for nuclear material or equipment to be transferred out of the country if the transfer would disrupt the continuous operation of our power reactors or pose an environmental or security risk.” (‘Deal breather, not deal breaker’, The Hindu, August 20, 2007). This suggestion has since been picked up by the BJP leader, L.K. Advani, and has also been accepted as a possibility by the UPA government at the highest level.

While it is possible to find technical and legal remedies for the nuclear deal’s deficiencies, the struggle against a strategic alliance with America was always going to be political. By reversing the equation and forcing a political fix to the nuclear deal, the Left is likely to find that the domestic realignment it has inadvertently triggered will make the more important struggle harder to win.

[acharya]

MANMOHAN PROVES TO BE CHEAPSTER
ADVANI LOOKED PRIME MINISTERIAL
CONG BROKERS YET TO CONJURE MAJORITY
SONIA AGENTS USE <span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>BLUFF-BLUSTER BUY & SPIN </span>
WHO WILL MPs HANG ? WAIT TILL SUNSET!
By P.R.SIDDHARTHA
22 JULY 2008

<b>PRANAB LIES TO LOK SABHA

Pranab Mukherji misled the Lok Sabha by lying that the UPA had 236 MPs after the Communists withdrew support!

The UPA by itself has less than 225 MPs.

The Congress Position Holders spent the whole of 21 July indulging in Bluff and Bluster, claiming a certain victory.</b>

SONIA SPIN AGAINST ADVANI

The Congress Spin also tried to Bluff through the TV Channels by conjuring a crazy scenario that the BJP was scared of Mayawati-Karat Prime Ministerial Stature and hence would facilitate NDA MPs to abstain to allow the Government to win.

Sheer Nonsense Indeed.

Just shows the desperation of Sonia.

L.K.Advani and Rajnath Singh are actually marshalling all their forces to ensure that Every NDA Vote Counts.
They have also directed their Chief Ministers to mobilise as manu UPA Votes as possible without damaging the NDA Electoral Prospects in the Lok Sabha Elections.

Advani is doing everything possible and probable to defeat the Sonia congress Government.
The Congress Spin of an Advani led move to help the Sonia Congress Government to win inspite of being bizarre was being swallowed by the Corrupt TV Channels and gullible supporters in the Media of the Congress Establishment.

ADVANI WAS PRIME MINISTERIAL IN HIS SPEECH
<b>The Congress Spin tried to belittle Advani’s Speech as an indication of not wanting to bring down the Government, because, “There was No Fire and Anger in Advani’s Speech!”

L.K.Advani in a dignified attack against the Manmohan Government brought to focus the Mis-Governance of the Government in:

ONE:
Subverting India’s Governance by conniving with Italian Fugitive from Indian Justice Ottavio Quattrochchi.

TWO:
Destroying India’s Economy by making life unbearable for the commoners.

THREE:
Destroying the Secular Character of the Nation by withdrawing the Land allotted for building facilities for Piligrims to the Amarnath Cave.

FOUR:
Belittling Parliament by publicly stating that the Sense of the House would be taken before Going ahead on the Nuclear Deal, but stealthily in the Middle of the Night proceeding at the IAEA.

FIVE:
Destroying the Internal Security of the nation by allowing Terrorists to have a unchecked Free run of the country.

SIX:
Converting India in to a Junior Partner of the US.

L.K.Advani was Prime Ministerial in his Conduct during his Speech and did not indulge in empty Rhetoric, chest beating and screaming but surgically exposed the Manmohan Government’s monumental failure.</b>

1000 CRORES BUT NO MAJORITY UNTIL SUNRISE
<b>The Sonia Congress besides disbursing 1000 Crores to procure loyalties of MPs in Opposition to the Government failed to secure the Majority until Sunrise on 22 July, Voting Night, on the trust Vote.

Congress Power Brokers offered huge bonuses to relatives of BJP MPs ill and in Hospitals to prevent them from coming to Delhi and failed.

Congress Cabinet Ministers opened the Treasure Chests to woo the sons of the Akali Dal Supremo Parkash Singh badal and Shiv Sena Supremo Bal Thackeray to beg them to get their MPs to abstain from Voting and failed.</b>

The Sonia Congress is hoping that the Appeasements Offered to a few NDA MPs will do the Trick to get them to abstain.

The Congress Resource Spenders will work feverishly until Voting Time on 22 July Evening to force the Abstaining of NDA MPs.

The Congress Bluff will be tested at Counting Time on 22 July Night.

SONIA HOPES FOR NDA MPs ABSTAIN

Congress President Sonia’s Chief Strategist told politicsparty.com that,
“We do not have a majority. We are hoping to win the Trust Vote by ensuring a few NDA MPs to abstain.If they abstain we will save the Government!”

MANMOHAN GOVT WILL LOSE BY 10 PLUS VOTES

The Demolisher-In-Chief of the Sonia Congress Government, Mayawati told that,

“The Congress led UPA Government will be defeated by more than 10 Votes”

If Mulayam’s 39 MPs do not stick together but disperse away from Mulayam towards Mayawati then the Manmohan Singh Government is dead.

TAILPIECE

Manmohan has never in these Four Years looked Prime Ministerial and in the Fifth Year he just has as much credibility as the Notorious Stock Broker he created as Finance Minister in the scandalous Narasimha Rao Government and L.K.Advani looked authoritatively Prime Ministerial in his Opposition to the Sonia Congress Government!

FINISHLINE

Prime Minister To Be L.K. Advani would like to hang Both, But Who (Manmohan Government Or Communist Leadership of Karat-Bardhan) Will L.K.Advani and his NDA Hang?

[Guest]

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Trust vote brings work to a halt in Delhi Govt offices  </b>
Pioneer.com
Rajesh Kumar | New Delhi
The looming election clouds have Delhi's ruling Congress worried. With the row over the India-US nuclear deal casting a shadow over Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's Government, the Delhi Congress at no cost wants elections to Parliament and the Delhi Legislative Assembly to be held simultaneously. <b>With the trial of strength over N-Deal reaching the last lap, work was virtually suspended in the Delhi Government on Monday. Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit has suspended the important Cabinet meeting and Transport Department presentation pertaining to 2010 Commonwealth Games in the wake of discussion on confidence motion in the Parliament</b>. Both Chief Minister and her Cabinet colleagues were hooked to news channels to see debate on confidence motion. On the other hand, Congress party workers in the city have resorted to traditional way to gain the divine blessings for the party.

It would be pertinent to mention that the Delhi Congress leaders are worried a lot as national issues would get dominant in case the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections take place simultaneously if the Manmohan Singh's Government fails to survive in the confidence motion on Tuesday. A Congress MLA said that in case both elections take place, we would not be able to highlight the local issues. "Issues pertaining to the central Government will take over. This will not be advantageous for us, as we will not be able to showcase whatever we have done for the people of Delhi. All the space will go to leaders of the central Government," he said.

<b>"Price rise is definitely going to be a central issue</b>. The Delhi Government did everything possible to bring down the prices. We gave also given subsidy to consumers on cooking gas<b>. All said and done this is one night that political leaders may not sleep," </b>  <!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo--> said another Congress MLA on the condition of anonymity.

On the other hand, other political bigwigs of Delhi politics were also hooked to the television listening to the debates. "It is quite interesting as the issue is of much national interest. Since morning, besides doing daily chores, I am not missing any speech or for that matter discussions going on. My day started by being a member amidst various speakers for a debate in a private news channel," said the Delhi BJP president Harsh Vardhan.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

[Guest]

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>A Re-run of 1999? </b>
Pioneer.com
Nidhi Sharma | New Delhi
Congress banks on abstentions to offset Maya aggression
With Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati still on the prowl, the UPA Government geared up to face the floor test late on Tuesday evening on a cautious note. It is hoping to scrape through with the help of abstentions that could bring down the halfway mark to 265 or lower.

The UPA leaders are not willing to take any chances as yet. The threat of BSP czarina Mayawati poaching more MPs from the ruling coalition and any last-minute surprises on the floor of the House could turn the tide either way. Haryana MP Arvind Sharma, who had shown early signs of rebellion, met Mayawati on Tuesday evening. This despite the fact that he had been wooed back after an audience with Congress president Sonia Gandhi. There were reports that Mayawati had been able to lure some more Samajwadi Party MPs, which could upset the UPA calculations.

After weeks of confabulations, number crunching and pursuing every elusive MP, the UPA political managers finally declared on Monday evening that the Government was safe. Sources said that the UPA was expecting 12-15 abstentions. With the effective strength of the Lok Sabha at 541, the Government would have to poll half the votes - 271 - to win the confidence vote. However, with abstentions, this requirement could come down drastically. If there are 12 abstentions, the effective strength would be 529, which would translate into 265 votes as the halfway mark.

A senior leader said: "We would certainly have over 272 votes and the halfway mark would be somewhere around 265 or lower." Sources said that the Congress was confident of abstentions from the Janata Dal (United), BJP, Shiromani Akali Dal and Shiv Sena. Despite the National Conference (NC) staying away from the UPA dinner, hosted by the Prime Minister on Sunday evening, the Congress said both the MPs would be present and vote for the Government.

A leader said confidently: "They won't abstain. They will be present and vote."

The Congress is drawing its confidence from the fact that it has been able to keep its MPs from straying. Even small notes of dissent were nipped in the bud and sulking MPs - like Karnataka's RL Jalappa - were immediately calmed down. So far, the UPA has thwarted attempts by the NDA to split the RJD. Political managers, however, said that the final test would be on the floor of the House on Tuesday evening.

After the sudden volte face by Ajit Singh's Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), the Congress is now trying to wage a psychological battle. According to high-level sources, a senior Muslim leader from the RLD, Mirajuddin, would formally join the Congress on Tuesday. He would first meet Sonia Gandhi at Parliament and then a formal declaration of his joining the party would be made by the Congress. Sources said that the Congress would make such a declaration just before the trust vote as it could show that Muslims were not opposed to the nuclear deal.

Lone Mizo National Front MP Vanlalzawma will abstain from voting on Tuesday

Nagaland People's Front will decide on Tuesday on whether its lone MP will vote for or against the UPA

<b>Mamata Banerjee said though she was not in favour of deal, her party can never back a motion set in by CPI(M)</b> <i>[her head is located near her toe]</i>

BJP MP Harischandra Chavan, hospitalised in Nashik, was flown to Delhi to participate in the trust vote

Mahesh Kanodia, BJP MP from Gujarat, who is in a Mumbai hospital, would be flown to Delhi by early Tuesday
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

[Guest]

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--> [her head is located near her toe]
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Au-contraire, she has to do exactly opposite of what commies are doing.
Else she'll pay price for it in West Bengal politics. Local politics in play here.

[acharya]

<b>
Show proof of horse-trading, says Manmohan Singh</b>

New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday night rejected allegations of horse-trading for winning the trust vote on Tuesday.

“Anybody can make allegations. If somebody has proof, show it,” Dr. Singh told reporters while leaving the Parliament house complex at the end of the debate on the first day of the special Lok Sabha session.

Dr. Singh expressed “fullest confidence” that his government would win the trust vote, and dismissed as “hypothetical” questions about the fall of the government.
“Will control prices”

To the Opposition charge that the government was not concerned over controlling price rise, he said: “we are making serious efforts. There is no question about lack of interest in controlling prices.” — PTI

He said: “we are concerned about controlling prices. We’re making serious efforts. We’ll succeed. So, there is no question of lack of interest in controlling inflation.”

[acharya]

<b> It looks like a deal between two individuals: Advani</b>

Anita Joshua

NEW DELHI: Repeatedly arguing that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had invited the floor test upon himself, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha L.K. Advani on Monday asserted that the Bharatiya Janata Party wanted to defeat the government, not destabilise it.

Leading the Opposition attack on the government, Mr. Advani sought to draw a distinction between defeating and destabilising a government and said it was not in the BJP’s nature to destabilise governments.

The United Progressive Alliance government “is like a patient in the ICU room. The first question everyone asks is whether he [patient] is going to survive or not,” Mr. Advani said, adding that the current dispensation had been paralysed for nearly a year now.

On the withdrawal of support by the Left parties, Mr. Advani maintained that they could not be held responsible for the UPA being reduced to a minority.

Quoting the Prime Minister describing the “special session” as a “distraction” that was not allowing the government to carry on with its job, he said: “If anyone is responsible, it is your government and you personally. And, of course, the Congress president without whose approval you would not have been allowed to take a single step.”

Of the view that the UPA government, the Prime Minister and the Congress president do not believe in coalition dharma, the National Democratic Alliance’s prime ministerial candidate reminded the ruling benches of how the BJP had brought round its allies on the need to make India a nuclear weapon state. “Only after they agreed did we include it in the National Agenda for governance and conduct the nuclear tests of 1998,” he said.

The BJP leader said the Prime Minister’s determination to push ahead with the nuclear deal made it look like a deal between two individuals and not between two sovereign nations. Maintaining that his party was not averse to a close strategic alliance with the U.S., he said the NDA would re-negotiate the deal if voted to power.

Mr. Advani accused the UPA of four years of misrule and was particularly critical of its inability to deal with terrorism.

[acharya]

<b>Speaker Somnath Chatterjee will quit on August 12: Sources</b>

Indrani Roy Mitra in Kolkata | July 21, 2008 21:33 IST
Last Updated: July 21, 2008 21:58 IST



Just as the United Progressive Alliance government gears up for the trust vote in Parliament on Tuesday, sources close to Somnath Chatterjee revealed to a section of the media that the Lok Sabha Speaker would put in his papers only on August 12.



Chatterjee, according to the sources, would preside over the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association meet to be held in Kuala Lumpur between August 1 and August 10. He will put in his papers soon after the event.



The news came as a big jolt to the West Bengal's Communist Party of India-Marxist men, who till late Monday night, were trying to convince Chatterjee to resign.



According to party insiders, West Bengal Left Front Chairman Biman Bose had extended his stay in New Delhi for this purpose.



The CPI-M central committee asked Chatterjee to resign on Sunday night, a request he ignored when he chaired the special session of the Lok Sabha on Monday.



While Chatterjee's refusal to step down has left the Left red-faced, he hasn't done anything unconstitutional.



Even some veteran CPI-M leaders feel that the Speaker had taken the right decision as the post of a speaker is above any party leadership.



CPI-M general secretary Prakash Karat's stand to put pressure on Chatterjee to resign, therefore, has stirred up a controversy and differing views among his own people.



According to sources, the CPI-M patriarch and former West Bengal chief minister Jyoti Basu reportedly expressed his 'displeasure' over the manner in which Karat and his supporters have pressured the Lok Sabha Speaker to put in his papers.



"It is unwise to withdraw support from the government over the nuclear deal," a source close to Basu told rediff.com on Monday.



Chatterjee met Basu recently to discuss the resignation issue.



Apart from Basu, the Speaker found another voice of support in his predecessor Purno A Sangma.



Sangma not only backed Chatterjee's move but also mentioned that he had the constitutional right to vote for the government in case of a tie during the trust vote.

[acharya]

<b>Trust vote: BJP leaders take stock of situation</b>

July 21, 2008 19:48 IST


Even as the Lok Sabha continues with its debate on the confidence motion, top leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday met in Delhi to review the emerging political equations.

Senior party leader L K Advani, BJP chief Rajnath Singh, senior leaders Jaswant Singh, Arun Jaitley, Venkiah Naidu heal discussions at the leader of opposition's office in Parliament House.

Sources said the saffron party is in a fix and fears of a backlash in either situation of the government winning or losing the trust vote.

"The National Democratic Alliance is nowhere in the picture. If the government loses, the credit goes to Mayawati and the Third Front. If it wins then Mulayam would emerge as a winner and strategist," a leader of one of the NDA constituents told PTI.

In the BJP camp, leaders fear that UPA losing the vote would certainly be a booster for Mayawati camp, but if the government wins the trust vote, BJP would be accused by parties like the Bahujan Samaj Party of conniving with the Congress to bail them out, sources added.

External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee's statement that the government still enjoys majority in the House is also seen as a reason by the NDA camp to believe that the assertion is bound to force the "fence sitters" to favour the UPA camp.

However, the party said that the situation is in their favour.

"Monday's meeting was a routine one of the senior leaders with the leader of the opposition. The numbers are in our favour and the country wants this government out of business at the earliest. BJP has no role in the confidence motion and the results too would have no bearing on our preparations for polls," a party leader told PTI.

[acharya]

<b>Trust Vote: What will the Speaker do in case of a tie?</b>

July 21, 2008 17:49 IST


With a cliffhanger on the cards, whom does the Speaker vote for in the event of a tie during the trust vote sought by the Manmohan Singh-led United Progressive Alliance government?

Eminent Constitutional lawyer Fali S Nariman says ideally status quo should guide the Speaker and the constitutional authority should side with the government.

"Generally, the convention is to vote for the government," Nariman said. Endorsing Nariman's view, former Lok Sabha Speaker P A Sangma said the Presiding Officer ideally votes with the government in case of a tie.

<b>
When asked what the Speaker should do in case there is a tie after the trust vote, Sangma said, "Normally, the Speaker votes to save the government. This is the convention internationally. But this is not binding on the Speaker."</b>

A handbook on parliamentary procedures that seeks to educate Members of Parliament on parliamentary procedures and conventions says "He (Speaker) almost always votes in such a way as to maintain the status quo or to postpone the settlement of the question."

The idea of maintaining status quo is that the Speaker's vote should not decide the motion but give the House further opportunity to debate. It remains to be seen whether or not Speaker Somnath Chatterjee goes by convention, which is not binding, in siding with the government if he is called upon to exercise his casting vote.

If Chatterjee votes as a Communist Party of India � Marxist member against the Congress-led government in case of a tie, then the 79-year-old veteran will probably become the first Speaker to bring down a national government anywhere in the world.

[acharya]

The Rediff Interview/Congress spokesperson Veerappa Moily
<b>
'The mood in the UPA camp is upbeat'</b>

July 21, 2008
Ahead of the crucial trust vote in Parliament, Veerappa Moily, a close aide of Congress President Sonia Gandhi [Images], feels that the United Progressive Alliance will cruise through the trust vote and that the nuclear deal with the US will be signed without any hurdles.

Moily, a former Karnataka chief minister and Congress spokesperson, spoke to rediff.com's Vicky Nanjappa about the chances of the UPA government, the emergence of the third front and the nuclear deal.

Special: An alliance in crisis
<b>
Are you still confident that the UPA will sail through the trust vote?</b>

I have always maintained that the issue is being blown out of proportion. There was never any confusion regarding the United Progressive Alliance's majority in Parliament.
<b>
How many MPs are there with the UPA at the moment?</b>

We easily have over 280 MPs with us. We have the support of the National Conference now and there will be several others who will vote in favour of the UPA. The mood in the UPA camp is upbeat and we are confident of winning the trust vote on Tuesday.
<b>
Aren't you worried that there will be a lot of cross-voting which may lead to the fall of the UPA?</b>

See, all these are speculations by a section of the opposition. The MPs who have pledged their support to the UPA will not let us down. I don't think they will bring down the government by cross voting. That is not a possibility as per our reading.

I acted only in national interest, says Dr Singh
<b>
The weekend saw some hectic activity and it seemed that the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party were sidelined by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati. What does the Congress think about these developments?</b>

The Congress has not pressed the panic button. About the BJP I do not know, you will need to ask them. We have been following the developments closely and I must say that there has been more hype than action in the Mayawati camp. The Congress is in no way affected by the happenings and also the so called emergence of a third front.

But the Mayawati camp seems to be confident of having the numbers and also the Left says that its one-point agenda is now to topple the UPA. What do you have to say about this?

Can I prevent them from thinking or talking? I can only speak for my party and my party is confident of winning the trust vote. I can only say that Mayawati has been trapped by a non-entity called the United National Progressive Alliance.

Everyone is a suspected Judas
<b>
There is a lot of opposition to the nuclear deal and the Left has even threatened an agitation if the Dr Manmohan Singh [Images] government goes ahead with the deal. Is there any proposal to put the deal on hold?</b>

The deal will go through at any cost and I for one believe that it is in the interest of the country. There is absolutely no proposal to put the deal on hold. However the government intends to first win the trust vote and then take matters further.
<b>
There was a statement by US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Richard Boucher the stating that the US will go ahead with the deal even if there is a minority government in power. What do you have to say about this?</b>

First and foremost, there will be no minority government as the UPA will win the trust vote comfortably. Hence the question of going ahead with the deal with a minority government does not arise.