Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Murli Manohar Joshi on Sunday said that the Trinamool Congress supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had called up BJP leader Sushma Swaraj seeking her support for the ‘no-confidence’ motion it plans to bring against the Union Government.
The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) will however take its decision on the matter only after its two-day meeting is held, Joshi said in a press conference in the city on Sunday.
The Trinamool Congress on Saturday announced its decision to bring a no-confidence motion against the Congress led coalition Government at the Centre.
The decision came after UPA II regime announced the opening up the retail sector to foreign investment and a reduction in the cap on subsidised LPG cylinders.
Numbers game
Appealing to all parties, including the BJP and the Left, to support the move, Mamata Banerjee had said that the no-confidence motion would be brought during the Winter Session of Parliament.
“Mamataji had called up Sushma Swaraj seeking support for the move. We will take a decision on that only after discussing with our party leaders and the representatives of the NDA,” Joshi said.
He further said that the Opposition parties would need to chalk out a careful plan to make the no-confidence motion a success.
“What is the use of bringing the motion if it gets defeated? The Trinamool doesn’t have the numbers (on its own). Their leadership will have to decide how far they can go. All parties need to chalk out careful plans,” he said.
According to him, the BJP was the first to speak against the Congress-led Union Government’s economic reforms including foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail.
“We were the first to start the movement against the Government on FDI. It is therefore a question of others joining us rather than us joining them,” he said.
2G spectrum auction
Accusing the Union Government of “deliberately manipulating” the recent auction of 2G spectrum, which yielded barely a third of the amount that was expected, Joshi demanded a probe into it.
“There is a distinct possibility that this auction was deliberately manipulated. Through this auction the Government wants to prove that the Comptroller and Auditor General had got it wrong.
“Careful investigation must be made about this entire auction,” he said.
The recently concluded auction received total bids worth Rs 9,407 crore, less than a third of its Rs 30,000-crore target.