We will survive no-trust motion: Cong

With the CPM declining and the Bharatiya Janata Party apparently reluctant to back her party’s move to bring a no-confidence motion against the UPA government in Parliament, a confident Congress on Monday took a dig at Mamata Banerjee and asked her to introspect and reconsider her decision.

The Congress said it was confident that the government has the support of enough MPs in the Lok Sabha to sail through the trial of strength. It also ridiculed the Trinamool Congress’ bid to seek support from its arch rivals, CPM and other left parties, to move the no-confidence motion.

“This is a peculiar situation in the history of Parliament as a 19-member party is talking of a no-confidence motion,” Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari told journalists. He rued that Banerjee was reaching out for support to parties whom she had “fought for the last 30 years”. “I hope she will introspect and reconsider her decision seriously because she was part of this government till three months back,” said Tewari.

Tewari comments came hours before the CPM virtually rejected the TMC’s call for support to its no-confidence motion. “We think it (no-confidence motion) will not be very helpful at this stage because it will help the government. Everyone knows the UPA government has the numbers. If you fail and the motion is defeated, it will help the government cover up all its wrongdoings and claim that has the parliamentary mandate,” said  CPM General Secretary Prakash Karat.

Since a no-confidence motion needs support of at least 50 MPs to be admitted in the Lok Sabha, the TMC reached out to the BJP, CPM, CPI and other left parties for help. Though veteran CPI MP Gurudas Dasgupta on Sunday said that his party would vote in favour of the no-confidence motion, he did not clarify whether it would also help the TMC get the motion admitted in the House.

The BJP remained non-committal on the issue. “We will take a decision on the issue tomorrow at the meeting of the executive of the BJP Parliamentary Party tomorrow,” Prakash Javadekar, the spokesman of the principal opposition party, told journalists on Monday.

The meeting will take place at party veteran L K Advani's residence at 11 am on Tuesday. The BJP leaders will also have a meeting with its partners in the National Democratic Alliance in the evening to finalise its strategy.

A section of the BJP is of the opinion that if the government sails through the trial of strength in the Lok Sabha with the help of SP and BSP, the UPA will use it as a morale booster and project it as a renewed mandate for its regime. The CPM leaders too have the similar view. Besides, opposition leaders are also not keen to support the TMC move, as no other party would be able to move another no confidence motion in six months in case the one initiated by Banerjee’s party is defeated in the Lok Sabha.

The Congress-led government at present has the support of about 265 MPs, including 18 of the Dravida Munnethra Kazhagam, in the 545-member-House. With the support of the 22 MPs of the SP and 21 MPs of the BSP, the ruling coalition’s number could go beyond 300, while it needs just 272 to win the trust vote. “We are fully confident of numbers and will prove majority on the floor of the Lok Sabha whenever any such motion comes. We have more than 272,” said Congress spokesperson Sandip Dikshit.