New Delhi:
The Samajwadi Party of Mulayam Singh Yadav today threatened to support a no-confidence motion against the government on Telangana if it pushed the Lokpal Bill. The party repeatedly stalled a discussion on the proposed anti-corruption law, which was tabled in the Rajya Sabha today.
Here are the latest updates on this story:
"If there is a no-confidence motion against the government of Telangana, we will certainly support it," said Samajwadi Party MP Ramgopal Yadav. The party, which offers external support to the ruling UPA, is upset that the government tabled the Lokpal Bill without consulting it.
On Monday, six Congress MPs opposed to the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, had written to Lok Sabha speaker, Meira Kumar, seeking a no-confidence vote against their own government for going ahead with the creation of a new Telangana state with 10 districts. TDP MPs also went to the Speaker.
Any move to bring a no-confidence motion requires the support of about 50 MPs or roughly, a 10th of the 545-member Lok Sabha. Without this number, the Speaker can reject the call.
The Samajwadi Party, which has 21 MPs in the Lok Sabha, is reportedly trying to get other MPs on board with its plan to oppose the government. The party says it has always opposed the creation of smaller states.
The Biju Janata Dal, which has 14 MPs, has also said it will support a no-confidence motion. If so, the total number of members in favour of a no-confidence motion comes to 47, just three short of what the Speaker needs to accept the motion.
The main opposition BJP, which backs Telangana, and the Trinamool Congress have said they will not support a no-trust motion.The CPI-M has also refused to support it.
"If the government wins, it may redeem itself from the no-confidence served by the public in recent assembly polls," said Trinamool MP Saugata Roy.
With the national election just a few months away, many parties don't want the government to collapse; it would make little difference as this government will remain caretaker till the election, due by May.
The Congress dismissed any threat. "It is a hypothetical question as the motion hasn't even been admitted yet - we will cross that bridge when we come to it," said union minister Manish Tewari.
By proposing a no-trust motion against their own government, Congress lawmakers had wanted to embarrass the party over its decision to split Andhra Pradesh and carve out the region of Telangana as India's 29th state.
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