Mamata Banerjee to protest over retail FDI; no-trust move seems doomed

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress has decided to hold a 48-hour demonstration at the Jantar Mantar in New Delhi starting today against the price rise and the union government's decision to introduce foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail.
 
Banerjee had pulled her 19 MPs out of the United Progressive Alliance government in September this year over the economic liberalisation moves introduced by the centre, which included a cap on subsidised LPG cylinders and 51 per cent FDI in multi-brand retail. Since then, she has become the government's bitterest foe.

Banerjee also seems bent on moving a no-confidence motion against the government in the winter session of Parliament which begins on Thursday, but does not seem to have found any concrete support from the other opposition parties so far.

The next three days are expected to see hectic confabulations among the opposition parties, but the Bharatiya Janata Party, the main opposition, is wary of backing Banerjee.

Senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi on Sunday explained why the BJP is chary of backing Banerjee's no-trust motion, saying, "If the numbers are not adequate and the motion fails, the government becomes safe for the next six months, within which another such motion cannot be brought. If the motion is passed and the government falls, you have to think of the next course of action."

Banerjee, with her 19 MPs, does not have the numbers to move alone, as for a no-confidence motion she needs the support of at least 50 MPs. Joshi said that Banerjee had phoned leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj, and that BJP would discuss this once Swaraj was back from Mumbai, where she attended the funeral of Shiv Sena leader Bal Thackeray last evening.

Ironically, so far the only party to unequivocally support the no-trust move is the Communist Party of India, the TMC's bitter rival in West Bengal politics. CPI leader Gurudas Dasgupta said he had not heard from Banerjee, but would definitely support the motion. Even then the numbers will not be enough, as the other Left parties including the Communist Party (Marxist) have indicated that they will not go all-out to pull down the government.

The government is dismissive. Commerce Minister Anand Sharma said today, "Here is a decision which is in executive domain (FDI in retail) which requires no legislative approval. In the history of Indian parliamentary democracy, an executive decision has never been dragged into Parliament motions. The government is confident of convincing the majority."

With the support of the Samajwadi Party's 22 MPs and the Bahujan Samaj Party's 21, the UPA government has just over 300 MPs in the 545-seat Lok Sabha, comfortably over the half-way mark at 273.