Trinamool Congress general secretary Mahua Moitra explains the stand of her party on the issue of no-confidence motion against the UPA government in Parliament:
The last few days have seen the main Opposition parties united in their all-encompassing desire to achieve one objective - to make people believe they are fighting the Centre tooth and nail while actually helping this minority government to stay solidly put. The BJP and the Left each have their own reasons to play for more time. The Left is still smarting from its ignominious defeat and hopes each passing month will strengthen anti-incumbency in West Bengal and improve its own chances in the next general elections.
The BJP realises no matter how hard the Congress has been hit by corruption, somehow they haven't come out smelling of roses either – perhaps the next 18 months will see a few more skeletons tumble out of Akbar Road and the BJP will emerge as the lesser of two evils for the Indian electorate in 2014.
For the rest of us, however, it is imperative to look beyond the fog created by the specious Rule 184 vs. Rule 193 argument and examine the real questions the BJP and the Left need to answer, namely: 1. Do you want just the decision on FDI to be reversed? Or 2. Do you believe this government should quit and announce elections because a.it is in a minority after the TMC pull-out or b. it has lost the moral right to govern after the slew of corruption charges against it?
Let us be clear – if the answer to even one of the questions above is a yes (and both parties have been vociferously maintaining a yes to both) then neither Rule 184 nor 193 is the answer. This is why: the final notification for FDI in retail was issued on September 20, 2012 and the rules amending the Foreign Exchange Management Regulations, 2000, permitting FDI in retail were published in the Gazette of India on October 30, 2012. The Opposition can shout itself hoarse about the UPA's ministers reneging on promises made on the floor of the House on first achieving consensus but let's face it - for all intents and purposes, 51 per cent FDI in retail is a done deal. Rule 184 calls for a discussion followed by a vote while 193 is a non-voting debate.
By insisting on Rule 184 the BJP and the Left are trying to create the impression that if voting is allowed and the UPA loses it will have to rescind the FDI notification and the government will subsequently fall. This is not the case. Even with losing the vote under 184 there is no compulsion to reverse FDI let alone quit the seat of power. The UPA for its part is still trying to insist it is open to a non-voting debate. Nothing could be further from the truth. If the government had wanted to honestly discuss FDI with a view to achieving any sort of consensus then surely the time was before they took the executive decision and not after – this is obvious to all except the most intellectually challenged.
And if what the BJP and the Left truly want is for the government to quit and call for a fresh mandate then of what use is Rule 184 or 193? Neither will force the government out. Parliament already has a motion in place to remove a government that is in a minority – it's called a no-trust vote. Strangely enough only one party moved the no-trust motion. It is irrelevant that it has only 19 MPs, far below the requisite number of 50 to table the motion; it is equally irrelevant that the motion predictably failed. In a world where both the BJP and the Left claim to want the UPA to quit but insist on adopting a path which clearly will never achieve this outcome what is important is that Mamata and Mamata alone has the clarity of thought to ask the real questions and the courage to shape the answers she believes to be right.
Mahua Moitra is a general secretary with the Trinamool Congress. The views expressed are her own.
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