The BJP, which supported the Congress in pushing through the key legislations which include Food Security, Land and Pension Bills, was virtually constrained to do as the party did not want to be projected as anti-poor and anti-reform. Moreover, the BJP, which had rejected Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s suggestions to let Parliament function for the passage of the Land and Pension Bills, later agreed after the government agreed to a detailed “submission” on the issue of missing coal files in the Lok Sabha and clarifications in the Rajya Sabha.
“It had nothing to do with Syria or any international scenario,” a senior BJP leader said. The “deal” was that the BJP will be allowed to make their submission in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha on the missing files.
On the issue of the Pension Bill it was also indicated that the standing committee on finance headed by the BJP’s Yashwant Sinha had been asking for 26 per cent FDI in the pension sector. “So there was nothing for us to oppose,” the leader said. During their meeting with the PM on late Tuesday evening, BJP leaders L.K. Advani, Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley remained non-committal over ending the impasse. The BJP leaders refused to budge from their demand of allowing them to raise the issue. It was only after the government agreed on Wednesday to their demand that both the Houses could function properly.
Sources disclosed BJP MPs had also objected to the Prime Minister leaving both Houses of Parliament without addressing clarifications after his intervention on the coal files on Tuesday. Both the Houses hardly functioned after an infuriated Opposition brought business in both Houses to a standstill. Later, the PM invited BJP leaders to resolve the standoff.