UPA has the numbers, says PM after FDI meet

November 27, 2012

manmohan_singh_fdi

New Delhi, November 27: The UPA is sure of its numbers in the Lok Sabha, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said Tuesday after alliance partners met here to thrash out a consensus on foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail, an issue that has stalled parliament for four days.

"Yes, we are confident of the numbers," the prime minister told reporters after the UPA meeting here.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath told reporters: "The UPA is firmly united and all constituents said they are behind the government on any debate in the parliament."

According to the minister, the larger sense at the all party meet on the issue Monday was for a debate and not for a vote.

"I will consult the Speaker on the issue," he said.

The parliamentary affairs minister added that the government was not averse to a debate under any rule but it was for the speaker to decide.

"The government is not averse to discussion under any rule. We are not concerned about voting," Kamal Nath said after the one-and-a-half hour meeting in the parliament library building.

"Majority favoured debate under any rule. I will apprise (the) speaker. Let her decide," Kamal Nath said.

The opposition BJP and the Left want a discussion on the issue with voting to prove that the government does not have majority support in the house.

In a move to outsmart the BJP, Congress strategists have been wooing other political parties to vote for the decision.

Besides Manmohan Singh, others who took part in the meeting included UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi, Defence Minister A.K. Antony, Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde and political secretary to Congress president Ahmed Patel.

The meeting had been called as UPA partner DMK had some reservations relating to FDI in multi-brand retail and wanted the UPA to discuss it.

Before the meeting, DMK chief M. Karunanidhi said his party will go in favour of FDI in retail in parliament if there is a debate followed by voting to stop a "communal" BJP from coming to power.

This added to the confidence of the UPA, said government sources.

"There is no denying...The possibility of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government falling if the debate on FDI in retail is taken under Rule 184 of parliament as demanded by BJP and other parties," Karunanidhi said in a statement from Chennai.

Stressing that the party was against FDI in retail, Karunanidhi said "communal parties" like the BJP would take advantage of the situation if the government collapsed.

Given this situation, there was a compulsion for the UPA government to continue, he said.

Though there is no danger to the government if it loses the vote as it is not a financial issue, it could be a political embarrassment.

Congress is the largest party in the UPA with 206 MPs. The DMK has 18 MPs.

Both houses of parliament were disrupted for the fourth day Tuesday as the opposition continued protests against the policy on allowing foreign investment in retail.


Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
March 11,2020

Jaipur, Mar 11: A 85-year-old man in Jaipur, who had returned from Dubai on February 28, has tested positive for coronavirus, a state government official said on Wednesday.

He was found presumptive positive in the first test on Tuesday and hence, a second test was conducted with fresh samples, the reports of which arrived late Tuesday night, Additional Chief Secretary, Medical and Health, Rohit Kumar Singh, said.

“The man who travelled to Dubai has been tested positive for coronavirus. It has been confirmed now,” Singh said.

“We have also got the manifest of the Spicejet flight he took from Dubai to Jaipur and are doing due diligence on that,” the official said, adding that intense contact tracing was underway.

The man has been kept in isolation at the SMS Hospital here.

“The man came to the hospital on Monday with symptoms of the virus. After the first test, his wife and son too have been kept in isolation at the hospital. The two, however, do not have coronavirus affliction symptoms,” Singh said.

A total of 235 people who came in contact with the octogenarian and his family have already been traced and are being monitored, he said.

Other contacts are also being traced, Singh added.

An Italian couple, who tested positive for COVID-19 last week, are also admitted in the hospital but their condition is improving, he said.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
Agencies
June 9,2020

Srinagar, Jun 9: Suspended Jammu and Kashmir DSP Davinder Singh, who was nabbed while ferrying two Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists on the Srinagar-Jammu Highway, moved a Delhi court on Tuesday seeking interim bail.

Besides Singh, two other accused -- Syed Naveed Mushtaq and Imran Shafi Mir -- have also sought bail. The Special Cell of the Delhi Police is probing their role in the alleged planning of a terror attack.

The trio has sought bail asserting that there is no evidence to show that there was any conspiracy to commit an act that would threaten the sovereignty of the country. The court has listed the matter for hearing on Wednesday.

"The accused are wrongly and falsely implicated in the case. There is also no material to substantiate that the accused had the intention or conspired to carry out a terror strike," the plea stated.

Singh is currently under judicial custody at the Hira Nagar Jail in J&K till June 16. Besides Singh, three other accused -- Javed Iqbal, Syed Naveed Mushtaq and Imran Shafi Mir -- are also under custody.

Delhi Police's Special Cell had brought him from Hira Nagar Jail to the national capital in March for interrogation in another case.

The police had earlier told the court that Mushtaq, who was the commander of Hizbul Mujahiddeen in Shopian district, along with other militants were planning to execute a terror attack in Delhi and other parts of the country and targeted killings of protected persons.

In connection with this, the Delhi Police had filed an FIR which stated that the youth of Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab are being trained for carrying out terrorist activities. Singh was taken into custody under this FIR and was also interrogated regarding the Khalistan angle.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
June 24,2020

Thiruvananthapuram, Jun 24: Kerala on Tuesday was among those honoured for tackling the Covid-19 pandemic when the United Nations celebrated the Public Service Day.

The function, held on a virtual platform, saw the participation of UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and other top UN dignitaries who applauded all the leaders which included state Health Minister K.K. Shailaja for effectively tackling Covid-19.

Speaking on the occasion, Shailaja noted that the experiences of tackling Nipah virus and the two floods - 2018 and 2019 - where the health sector played a crucial role, all helped in tackling Covid-19 timely.

"Right from the time when Covid cases got reported in Wuhan, Kerala got into the track of the WHO and followed every standard operating protocols and international norms and hence, we have been able to keep the contact spread rate to below 12.5 per cent and the mortality rate to 0.6 per cent," she said.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.