Winter Session of Parliament expected to generate lot of heat

While indications are that fiery Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress (TMC) is unlikely to get many backers for the no-trust move, the Left and the Right are talking of a resolution on the FDI issue under a rule which entails voting.

The NDA has decided to bring a motion that entails voting against the decision on FDI in retail but has kept open its options on a no-confidence motion.

TMC, which was part of the Congress-led UPA till two months back, has just 19 members while a no confidence motion requires support of at least 54 members, 10 per cent of the total strength of the Lower House.

Government managers are confident of its numbers and feel that there was no threat to the stability of the coalition which still has 18 months left in office.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath has ridiculed TMC plans of a no-confidence motion, saying that he was seeing for the first time in his 32 years of Parliamentary career a 19-member party threatening the government with such a move.

Facing the first session as Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Nath said, "A former ally with 19 members threatening us does not mean it is a threat. It does not mean we are counting our numbers."

The month-long session, which will conclude on December 20, will have as many as 20 sittings and the government has lined up a heavy legislative agenda including 25 bills for consideration and passing, 10 bills for introduction and a voting on supplementary demands for grants for the current fiscal. (MORE)