Congress manages to finish day's pending businesses in Rajya Sabha before Geneva vote

NEW DELHI: The Congress-led coalition displayed once again its by-now-famous floor management skills and finished pending businesses for the day in the Rajya Sabha before the crucial Geneva vote at 3:30 pm in which India favoured the US-sponsored motion against Sri Lanka over war crimes.

Congress’ trouble-shooters — Union ministers Sushil Kumar Shinde, Kamal Nath and Rajiv Shukla — spent hours on Wednesday night to persuade parties from Tamil Nadu and SP to agree not to disrupt proceedings in the Upper House, a party leader told ET. On Thursday, the House passed the anti-rape bill, Budget and Money bills and the Jharkhand Budget.

To pacify the Dravidian parties, a few Union ministers, especially the ones from the south, were heard making tall claims that in Geneva India would suggest amendments to the US-sponsored motion to make it more hard-hitting on the Rajapaksa-led government of Lanka.

Interestingly, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, on his way to the Rajya Sabha from the Lok Sabha, thanked DMK leader Tiruchi Siva — who was then standing inside the Central Hall, near the “GK Moopanar Corner” — for agreeing to not disrupt the proceedings. Shinde, Nath and Shukla held a series of meetings with AIADMK, DMK and SP MPs to arrive at a decision. Despite initial reluctance, they managed to strike a deal.

One of them also spoke to Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee to seek her support. Banerjee, who was averse to the idea of the government distancing itself from India’s long-held position of not backing any country-specific resolutions in international bodies, was ready to help. However, Congress incurred her wrath when TV channels ran headlines saying Trinamool would back Congress over the Lankan issue.

The channels quoted Congress sources. She immediately got her party MP Derek O’Brien to tweet to clarify that in matters related external affairs, Trinamool would stand by the Central government, which should not to be construed as support for Congress or that it was moving closer to Congress