The government needs support of other parties to get the bill passed in Rajya Sabha
New Delhi:
Faced by a united Opposition, the government has deferred its plan to table the Insurance Bill in Parliament on Monday.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu told NDTV that the government plans to build consensus on the bill before tabling it in Parliament. Mr Naidu and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will meet leaders of the Opposition parties, including Congress, today.
"The government would be happy to hold discussions with Congress and other parties on this bill. I propose to meet the important Opposition leaders in Rajya Sabha tomorrow, along with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. The government is willing to consider meaningful suggestions, if any, from Opposition parties," Mr Naidu said on Sunday.
Sources say based on the outcome of consensus building exercise the bill may be moved in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.
In preparation for what is expected to be a showdown, Opposition parties, including the Congress, had signed a letter on Friday asking the chairman of the Rajya Sabha to refer the Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill - which aims to raise the ceiling on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in insurance to 49 per cent from the current 26 per cent limit - to an all-party parliamentary panel called the select committee.
The government has been making efforts to stall such a move as this will delay an important part of its attempt to revive a sluggish economy. But its attempts to get Opposition parties to reconsider their position against the bill have come to naught.
The BJP-led NDA has a brute majority in the Lok Sabha and the bill will sail through there. But it first needs to get it through the Rajya Sabha, where it needs the support of other parties.
The BJP and its partners have 64 members in the 250-member Upper House. The Congress has 69. Together the parties that have signed the resolution demanding that the bill be sent to a select committee have a strength of 136 in the Rajya Sabha. They are - the Congress, the CPM, the CPI, the Bahujan Samaj Party, the Samajwadi Party, the National Conference, the Janata Dal (United), Rashtriya Janata Dal, the DMK, the Kerala Congress and the Trinamool Congress.
These parties have said that there are substantive changes in the Modi government's version of the Insurance Bill and these must be reviewed by the all-party parliamentary panel.
BJP leaders, however, say this is in fact a "UPA bill" since it includes only 11 amendments proposed by the present government and 86 proposed by the previous Congress-led UPA government.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu told NDTV that the government plans to build consensus on the bill before tabling it in Parliament. Mr Naidu and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will meet leaders of the Opposition parties, including Congress, today.
"The government would be happy to hold discussions with Congress and other parties on this bill. I propose to meet the important Opposition leaders in Rajya Sabha tomorrow, along with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. The government is willing to consider meaningful suggestions, if any, from Opposition parties," Mr Naidu said on Sunday.
Sources say based on the outcome of consensus building exercise the bill may be moved in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.
In preparation for what is expected to be a showdown, Opposition parties, including the Congress, had signed a letter on Friday asking the chairman of the Rajya Sabha to refer the Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill - which aims to raise the ceiling on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in insurance to 49 per cent from the current 26 per cent limit - to an all-party parliamentary panel called the select committee.
The government has been making efforts to stall such a move as this will delay an important part of its attempt to revive a sluggish economy. But its attempts to get Opposition parties to reconsider their position against the bill have come to naught.
The BJP-led NDA has a brute majority in the Lok Sabha and the bill will sail through there. But it first needs to get it through the Rajya Sabha, where it needs the support of other parties.
The BJP and its partners have 64 members in the 250-member Upper House. The Congress has 69. Together the parties that have signed the resolution demanding that the bill be sent to a select committee have a strength of 136 in the Rajya Sabha. They are - the Congress, the CPM, the CPI, the Bahujan Samaj Party, the Samajwadi Party, the National Conference, the Janata Dal (United), Rashtriya Janata Dal, the DMK, the Kerala Congress and the Trinamool Congress.
These parties have said that there are substantive changes in the Modi government's version of the Insurance Bill and these must be reviewed by the all-party parliamentary panel.
BJP leaders, however, say this is in fact a "UPA bill" since it includes only 11 amendments proposed by the present government and 86 proposed by the previous Congress-led UPA government.
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