Govt buys Maya balm to survive Opposition cuts

NEW DELHI: Finding itself on sticky wicket in the wake of the Opposition deciding to move cut motions on budgetary proposals on Tuesday, the Manmohan Singh government is leaving no stone unturned to be in the comfort zone numerically in Lok Sabha.

It was with this aim in mind that it took a soft line in the Supreme Court on the corruption cases against Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati. The gesture is unlikely to go unreciprocated.

Ms Mayawati’s 21-member BSP had taken a strident stand against price rise, but it appears that it is now rethinking its strategy when the entire Opposition, including its arch rival Samajwadi Party, moves cut motions against increase in prices of fuel and cut in fertiliser subsidy in the House.

BSP, which is understood to have been earlier planning to abstain when the cut motions are taken up for voting, may now even consider backing the government. The party has refrained from spelling out its gameplan publicly and had stayed away from the meeting of the 13 parties including the Left, SP, RJD, AIADMK, BJD, TDP and RLD on April 12.

The CBI told the Supreme Court on Friday that it would consider a representation made by Ms Mayawati for closure of proceedings against her in a Disproportionate Assets case because of favourable orders by tax authorities. A day earlier, the Centre informed the apex court that her 50 hectare public park dedicated to Dr B R Ambedkar was not in a reserved forest area and not covered under the environment impact assessment notification.

If playing footsie with Ms Mayawati pays off, the UPA would be able to breathe easy as far as numbers go. The UPA’s own estimates are that it has the support of 274 members in the 543-strong House. This would mean that the ruling alliance cannot afford to miss out on even one member to sail through the cut motions.

At a time when the government is also in the line of Opposition fire on several other counts, the IPL and the phone tapping, the arithmetic in the House would be crucial. The Opposition has been insisting on a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into IPL affairs and is all set to stall Parliament on Monday on the phone tapping issue.

The government has to ensure that the Finance Bill, which is likely to be taken up a day after the cut motions on April 27, is passed before April 30. Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee has cancelled his tour to Washington to ensure passage of the bill. The cut motions to the demands for grants for the finance ministry will be taken up on the evening of April 27 after the guillotine is applied on all ministries.

In the event of the motion being defeated, the parties are planning to bring amendments to the Finance Bill for annulment of the notification on increase of prices. If the cut motion is adopted, the government will have to step down.

However, there is a possibility that the House may agree to pass the Finance Bill to avoid a financial crisis in the country, according to sources. This was done in the early nineties when the late Chandrasekhar was the prime minister and Congress withdrew support reducing the government to a minority.