The BJP-led alliance has not given up on the no-confidence motion proposed by Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress.
“This government has failed on all the fronts and the time has come for it go.The DA would consult all political parties to explore the possibility of a no-confidence motion against the government,” the statement read out by BJP chief spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said.The NDA meeting, held at the residence of L K Advani, was attended by senior BJP leaders Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley, BJP president Nitin Gadkari, NDA convener Sharad Yadav, Akali Dal leader Naresh Gujral, Shiv Sena leader Ananth Geete, JD (U) leader Shivanand Tiwari, and Haryana Janhit Party leader Kuldeep Bishnoi.On the other side of the spectrum, the new Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Kamal Nath, tried to appear as cool as possible about the opposition’s concerted attempt to put the government on the mat either through a voting on FDI-in-retail or a no confidence motion. “We’ve the numbers. But we will be try to evolve a consensus.” Also pushing the ball in the Lok Sabha Speaker’s court, Nath said, “There are notices for debate under both rule 193 (which does not require voting) and 183. We will tell the Speaker we don’t want discussion on FDI that entails voting.” However, indications are that the government already mustering up the numbers to meet any eventuality.
As for Mamata’s threat of no-confidence, Nath said, “How can a party with 19 MPs be a threat to a government?”