Meanwhile,BSP inches closer,votes for NCTC

The 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.

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”. “In the past also,the CBI has entered states,but always with the consent of the state,never in defiance of that,” he pointed out.

The BJP’s Venkaiah Naidu and the CPM’s Sitaram Yechury offered to withdraw their amendments if the PM gave an assurance that the government would move forward on setting up the NCTC only with the consent and agreement of the state governments.

With such an assurance not forthcoming,the amendments moved by the CPM’s Moinul Hassan and Sitaram Yechury,the BJP’s Venkaiah Naidu,the AIADMK’s V Maitreyan,the BJD’s Pyarimohan Mohapatra and the JD(U)’s Shivanand Tiwari were put to vote.

In his reply on the motion of thanks,the PM also sought the Opposition’s cooperation on key economic issues. Asserting that India too is affected by “disturbing economic environment”,he asked the members to “recognise the pitfalls (and) the dangers that lie ahead”.