New Delhi:
The fate of the UPA government's ambitious Food Security Bill is uncertain with just seven working days left in a monsoon session that has been marred by incessant disruptions over the coal scam, ties with Pakistan and the creation of a Telangana state.
Despite cross-party support, the Bill will lapse if it does not get Parliament's approval before this monsoon session ends on August 30, which will be a huge embarrassment for the ruling Congress.
It is does lapse, the government will have to promulgate fresh ordinance and withdraw the Food Security Scheme from Congress-ruled states like Haryana, Delhi and Uttarakhand, where it was launched with much fanfare on Tuesday, to mark Rajiv Gandhi's 69th birth anniversary.
Stalling the Food Security Bill would also cost the party precious time to garner goodwill over the landmark pro-poor scheme, which aims at providing highly-subsidized food to nearly 70 per cent of India's population at a cost of some Rs. 1.25 lakh crores. The Congress is banking on it as a major vote-getter when it seeks a third straight victory in national elections, due by May.
On Tuesday, the government went to Parliament ready with the Food Bill, tweaked to address concerns raised by the opposition as well as allies.
But all its groundwork came to nothing as a united Opposition targeted Prime Minister Manmohan Singh over missing files linked to the allocation of coal blocks to private companies at throwaway prices, at a huge loss to the government.
The BJP, which backs the Food Bill, said it would not allow the house to function unless the Prime Minister himself explained how and why crucial files related to the coal scam went missing. The government rejected the demand, with Congress general secretary Ambika Soni saying: "The Prime Minister can't go from House to House giving statements. He handles a lot of ministries."
Sources say Congress managers are frantically trying to come up with a way of passing the Food Bill, one way or the other, with its key game-changer at stake.
"It is an ambitious Bill, we want things to happen soon but the government is in no situation to do anything," said BJP spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy.
The Congress blamed Narendra Modi, the BJP's presumptive Prime Minister, who had criticised the Bill in a letter to the PM. "Last week when I got the letter from Narendra Modi, what was the aim? It was to delay. Modi who claims to be the next Prime Minister of the country is denying the right to the people," said Food Minister KV Thomas.