The Manmohan Singh government has won the vote on FDI in multi-brand retail in Lok Sabha; in division, 471 votes were cast, 253 MPs voted against the BJP motion and 218 voted for it. The BSP and SP, which provide external support to the Manmohan Singh government, helped it defeat the BJP motion by walking out before the House. BSP sources have said Mayawati could go a step further in the Rajya Sabha and bail out the government by voting for FDI. The UPA is in a minority in the Upper House.
With the BSP and SP both not voting in the 545-seat Lok Sabha, the majority mark had come down from 273 to 251; 253 MPs voted for FDI.
After walking out, Mulayam Singh Yadav, who made a strong speech yesterday opposing FDI in retail and appealing to the Congress-led UPA to reconsider its decision, explained, "We walked out because the government has insulted farmers and small shops." The government will be putting more in store by what his brother Ram Gopal Yadav said this morning - "Whatever we will decide, the decision will be the same in both Houses." If the SP abstains in the Rajya Sabha too, and the BSP chooses to vote with the government, it could scrape through Friday's vote in the upper house, where it is in a distinct minority.
Closing the debate, the BJP's Sushma Swaraj, who moved the motion against FDI in retail with a fiery speech yesterday, soundly criticised Mulayam Singh Yadav for not walking his talk. "How vociferously Mulayam ji had opposed FDI...if he had voted with us, FDI would not have been implemented," she said. On the BSP's walkout she said, "It is not a question of BJP, this is not a communal issue. But the problem is the issue has now become FDI vs CBI...When the BSP wants support, they come to us and then we aren't communal. This dichotomy won't work." Ms Swaraj was referring to Ms Mayawati's recent comment that keeping "communal forces" at bay was a priority. The BJP and the BSP have in the past been allies in Uttar Pradesh where they had joined hands to form government years ago.
The gist of the government's argument is - why is the BJP opposing FDI in retail when they themselves had favoured it when the NDA was in power. And also that each state can decide whether to implement it or not. Mr Sharma said that today, the government's first speaker Kapil Sibal said the same thing yesterday. The government has also sought to allay fears that small retailers and farmers will be hit by the entry of big supermarket chains like Walmart.
The government chose not to field Prime Minister Manmohan Singh with an intervention in the Lok Sabha debate, but he is present in the lower house. The PM is a Rajya Sabha member. (Track latest developments)
The BJP-led opposition has argued through two days that the government's policy is anti-people. Sharad Yadav of the JD(U) ripped into the Congress-led UPA government today warning that "the future generations will not pardon us...you should reconsider the decision." Mr Yadav also sought to score political points, taking on Mr Sibal for saying yesterday that while the government looked beyond the opposition benches in the House at the country's welfare, the opposition was merely eyeing the treasury benches. "Yes", said Mr Yadav, "we want to sit there (treasury benches) but don't you want the same...but we don't want to sit there through illegitimate ways."
During the animated discussion on Day 2, there was even a five-minute adjournment when RJD chief Lalu Prasad called the BJP "jamoore" (side-kicks). The BJP was up in arms saying his words were "unparliamentary".
The BJP has accused the government of trying to scuttle a debate and vote in the Rajya Sabha, since it does not have the numbers in that house. As the Rajya Sabha was repeatedly adjourned, finally for the day early today courtesy disruptions by first the BSP and then SP, the BJP's Arun Jaitley said the ruling side was disrupting the House deliberately to avoid a vote. He demanded that the Prime Minister, who is the Leader of the House, clarify.
Ms Mayawati has played her cards close but had also indicated earlier this week that she would not like to vote on the same side as the BJP. On its part, the government has tried to keep its ally in good humour. After the BSP chief stalled Question Hour in the Rajya Sabha today demanding construction of a memorial for Bhimrao Ambedkar in Mumbai, the government announced in Parliament that it would make land available.
After boycotting a meeting with Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath yesterday, sulking Telangana Congress MPs today decided to participate in the FDI vote in Lok Sabha after Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde decided to convene a meeting of all political parties in Andhra Pradesh on December 28 to discuss the contentious separate statehood issue of Telangana.
