The Congress’s B-team

The Congress is denying Parliament its right to discuss and vote upon FDI in retail, which has a vital bearing on a fifth of our country's population, according to the CPM weekly, People's Democracy.

"Forcing the government to accept such a discussion, under the relevant rules, and deciding to a vote would have decisively frustrated the government's efforts to allow FDI to prise open our markets and access our resources for its profits at the expense of our people," says the editorial. The party has criticised the TMC, for bringing in a no-confidence motion against the government.

It argues that no-confidence motions are usually considered when enough members in the Lok Sabha belonging to the opposition support it, so there is the possibility of carrying the motion. If the no-confidence motion is unable to be carried, the government can interpret this as an endorsement of all its policies and its governance. It adds that with the SP and the BSP continuing to support the government from outside, the no-confidence motion would have been a non-starter anyway.

UPA in minority

The government does not want to allow discussion on FDI in retail under Rule 184 in Parliament because division voting would prove that the UPA is in a minority over the issue, says the CPI's New Age.

"If one goes by the current lineup for the reversal of the decision on FDI in retail, the UPA government is totally in [the] minority. If it persists with the policy, it loses its right to continue in power," says its editorial. It also claims that the ruling coalition, headed by the Congress, has "mastered the art of using allurement, [the] threat of [the] use of the CBI and other such unscrupulous means" to manage members from the opposition. "The BJP is using the threat to bargain certain concessions from the ruling alliance, particularly in the cases of corruption against its leaders," it says.

KASAB'S EXECUTION

The CPI-ML journal ML Update says that the Congress executed Ajmal Kasab "secretly", just before the beginning of the winter session to wriggle out of a possible showdown and defeat on the floor of Parliament on the issue of FDI in retail.

"If the Congress believes it can silence the people by citing the hanging of Kasab, the BJP has already begun to raise a shrill demand for the execution of Afzal Guru," the article says. According to the article, "Scams are a great leveller — the Congress and the BJP both stand exposed as 'dukaans' (shops) doing brisk business in the name of ruling the country or different states".

Compiled by Avishek G. Dastidar

ALSO READ

Laws for citizens, and by them too

The idea of Pakistan

Playing hardball with China

When Li comes calling