BSP inches closer,votes with UPA on NCTC

Samajwadi Party again backed the government in the Upper House,and with ally Trinamool Congress skipping the debate,the government comfortably defeated the amendments moved by the Opposition despite not having a majority in the Upper House. The amendments on the NCTC — which were put to vote together — were defeated 105 to 82 votes,with the motion of thanks to the President’s address sailing through.

BSP sources said party president Mayawati’s decision to vote in favour of the UPA government in the Rajya Sabha was aimed to stop rival Samajwadi Party from taking credit for helping the central government. They said Mayawati held talks with her senior party leaders,including Satish Chandra Mishra,Monday evening,“after being contacted” by the Congress.

According to the sources,Mayawati was very worried over the special importance being given to the Samajwadi Party and its national president Mulayam Singh Yadav by senior Congress leaders after its victory in the assembly polls. “Despite the walkout staged by the BSP members over the same issue of NCTC in the Lok Sabha,the BSP was not in position to take political credit for helping the UPA at the Centre. So,Behenji directed her MPs to vote in favour of the NCTC and take direct credit for helping UPA,” a Rajya Sabha member belonging to the party told The Indian Express.

If the UPA will take comfort from both the SP and BSP voting on the same side and with it,the Opposition failed to match its rhetoric with numbers. The combined strength of the parties which had moved the amendments was 96. However,the Opposition could take solace in the fact that it “exposed” the SP and BSP and “embarrassed” the Trinamool,which was among the parties to have moved amendments on the NCTC.

The UPA,which has 97 members in the Rajya Sabha,got the extra votes from the BSP and SP. Opposition members walked out of the House to register their protest immediately after the voting,with the Left reluctantly following the BJP.

Ahead of the voting,Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told the House that “adequate and full consultations will take place before the next steps are taken to operationalise the NCTC”.

He rejected the charge that the UPA was destroying the federal structure,saying “nothing could be farther from the truth.” To reiterate the importance of the NCTC,Singh mentioned the abduction of two Italian nationals by Maoists in Orissa,saying it was a “grim reminder to all of us that our national security can be in danger if we are not careful and alert in tackling the problems of left wing extremism and terrorism.”

Intervening,Leader of the Opposition Arun Jaitley asserted that there was no conflict between federalism and the fight against terrorism and the two could co-exist. He said the Opposition was only seeking an assurance from the PM that investigation,arrests and searches would not happen “without the knowledge or the consent of the state”.