Desi Talk - page 21

21
May 27, 2016
INDIA
– that’s all you need to know
By Nirendra Dev
s the poll verdict from
four states saw the
Congress decimated in
two states and regional
parties reasserting
themselves in another
two, BJP floor managers in parlia-
ment were keeping an eye on the
general anti-Congress mood and
also on the numbers in the Rajya
Sabha, where crucial legislation
needs across-the-spectrum sup-
port.
“There is a changed scenario.
After June biennial elections to
the Rajya Sabha, while the
Congress strength will come
down, there will be enhanced
numbers for the likes of the
Samajwadi Party and the
AIADMK. This can help govern-
ment pass key bills in Rajya
Sabha,” a BJP source told IANS,
exuding confidence.
But, will the Trinamool
Congrees (TMC), which has-
stormed back to power inWest
Bengal with over two-thirds
majority vote, play ball?
Trinamool Congress supremo
andWest Bengal Chief Minister
Mamata Banerjee, at her press
conference after her party's victo-
ry indicated she would.
“For us, our election manifesto
is like raksha kawach. We have
ideological differences with BJP
but if there are matters which will
help people, we can cooperate,”
Banerjee said in Kolkata when
asked about Trinamool's role in
passing the stalled Goods and
Services Tax (GST) Bill, described
as one of the government's most
important economic measures.
The TMC, in its manifesto for
the 2011 assembly elections and
the 2014 parliamentary polls, had
promised support for the GST,
which the Lok Sabha passed in
2015 but is pending in the Rajya
Sabha as the BJP-led NDA lacks
the numbers there.
At least one industry lobby
thought the BJP could draw com-
fort from the showing of the TMC,
as also of the AIADMK, which
convincingly returned to power in
Tamil Nadu.
“The NDA Government will
certainly find it easier to deal with
Trinamool Congress and AIADMK
in the Rajya Sabha for passage of
crucial bills, mainly the long-
pending and the most important
GST bill,” Assocham President
Sunil Kanoria said.
While AIADMK chief and Tamil
Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa
is yet to react on her party's coop-
eration in parliament, her stance
against the GST is well known but
she also enjoys good personal
rapport with Prime Minister
Narendra Modi.
No sooner had the trends
become clear May 19,
Environment Minister Prakash
Javadekar asserted that the gov-
ernment was keen to do business
with the powerful regional lead-
ers.
“First purpose in any election
is to win, secondly it is to ensure
defeat of your main rivals and
thirdly to feel satisfied that while
your enemies like Congress and
Left are defeated, the friendly
regional parties have won,”
Javadekar told journalists.
In the Rajya Sabha biennial
elections due on June 11, the BJP
hopes to gain from states like
Rajasthan and Maharashtra
where seats have fallen vacant.
“The assembly polls saw BJP
win in Assam and decimation of
Congress in crucial states. This
growing anti-Congress mood will
be reflected in monsoon session
of parliament and regional par-
ties like Samajwadi Party and
Trinamool Congress will have to
make a clear choice about push-
ing for legislative measures like
the GST bill,” a key BJP leader
said.
Of the 57 seats for which elec-
tions will be held, the BJP and the
Congress each held 14.
But the Congress' decimation
in assembly polls in last two years
in Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra,
Rajasthan and Telangana could
result in the party losing at least
4-5 seats.
The Congress strength in Rajya
Sabha is now 64 and this could
scale down to 60, but it will con-
tinue to be the single largest party
in the house.
Twenty-five Rajya Sabha seats
are up for grabs in states where
the BJP or the National
Democratic Alliance is in power.
Of them, Andhra Pradesh and
Rajasthan account for four each,
Chhattisgarh, Punjab, Haryana
and Jharkhand for two each,
Madhya Pradesh for three and
Maharashtra for six.
Of these, BJP or its NDA allies
can hope to pick up 22 seats, it is
estimated.
The present strength of BJP is
49 in the 245-member Rajya
Sabha. With NDA allies, its num-
ber goes up to 67.
“The Congress’s strength in
Rajya Sabha will come down. The
BJP's will increase marginally
while regional parties like
Samajwadi Party will also benefit.
It is these permutations and com-
binations that had led (Finance
Minister) Arun Jaitley to favor vot-
ing (against building consensus)
in the house on important legisla-
tion like the GST bill,” the party
source said.
–IANS
A
A Mixed Bag
Elections Results In Four States
1...,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20 22,23,24,25,26,27,28,29,30,31,...32
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