Pushing the corruption issue to the back seat, the BJP on Thursday attacked the government for taking decision in favour of allowing Foreign Direct Investment in multi-brand retail and insisted to have discussion over it in Parliament under rule that entails voting.
The move of the principal Opposition is seen as an attempt to avoid embarrassment, as its president Nitin Gadkari is facing charges of dubious funding in the companies promoted by him.
The party claimed a bigger Opposition unity on the FDI issue and so it preferred the matter to supporting the no-confidence motion that was moved by the Trinamul Congress.
Talking to mediapersons at the party briefing, BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain said, “In our BJP and later the NDA meeting, it was decided that we would raise the demand for discussion on FDI in retail issue under Rule 184 in the Lok Sabha and similar provisions in the Rajya Sabha which entail voting. Government has shown disrespect to Parliament by not agreeing to a debate under this rule.”
The UPA government is of the view that since the FDI decision was taken through an executive order, there is no need for voting in Parliament on the matter.
Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj had given a notice under Rule 184 while her Rajya Sabha counterpart Arun Jaitley gave a similar notice under Rule 167.
Opposition unity may be one factor but others pointed out that the FDI issue has also helped the BJP keep the corruption issue at bay, as it would also hurt the principal Opposition with its president facing allegations.