We’ve numbers, says Manmohan
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Maintaining that pressure is part of parliamentary life, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday exuded confidence that the ongoing Budget Session of Parliament 'will run smoothly'. All the numbers “required” for tackling the issues are on the UPA’s side, he has asserted.
Answering questions from reporters outside Parliament before the session began in the morning, Dr Singh said, “I think pressure is part of parliamentary life. We are willing to discuss and debate all the issues on the floor of Parliament.” Dr. Singh then went on to assert that he was confident of a smooth sail during the budget session, since the ruling side was having “all the numbers that are needed” to tackle the issues that would come up in Parliament.
Dr. Singh appealed to all the political parties including those in the Opposition to work together in a spirit of cooperation and help the government meet the enormous challenges and opportunities that the country faced.
The Budget Session portends a tough time for the government against the backdrop of the reverses the Congress party suffered in the assembly elections elsewhere too and the possibility of issues like federalism bringing unlikely forces together to open a joint front against the government.
The Congress, which is heading the UPA, may not be in a position to take even the allies for granted, so to say. Key coalition partner Trinamool Congress headed by West Bengal’s chief minister Mamta Banerjee, for one, is making it clear it was against a cut in the fertilizer subsidy and a further rise in the petroleum prices.
Banerjee has also joined non-Congress chief ministers in opposing the proposed National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC), a move from home minister P. Chidambaram, their argument being that it undercut the concept of federalism.
The Prime Minister, as also UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, face an unenviable task in the
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