TNI Bureau: “Had Mulayam Singh Yadav voted today, there would have been no FDI”, said and upset and enraged Sushma Swaraj in Lok Sabha, but that was imminent. The UPA Government won the vote on the debate on FDI in Multi-brand Retail, thanks to Mulayam’s Samajwadi Party and Mayawati’s BSP.
Both Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party walked out of the Lok Sabha without giving a valid reason. Thus, BJP’s motion on FDI in Multi-brand Retail was defeated. 22 MPs of Samajwadi Party and 21 MPs of BSP abstained. In total, 253 MPs voted for the government, while 218 MPs voted for the BJP-sponsored motion. JMM too did not take part in the voting.
Support Independent Journalism? Keep us live.
The Congress, DMK, RJD, JD-S and NCP voted in favour of the government, while maximum parties voted against FDI in Retail. Since the government got the numbers, it survived. In the absence of SP and BSP, the half-way mark fell to 251. And, the government just sailed through by securing 253 votes. Only 471 of 543 MPs voted on FDI debate. The motion on FEMA sponsored by the Trinamool Congress, was also defeated.
Although government managed to survive, they can hardly claim a victory, as they got just 253 in favour – which is less than the majority mark of 272 in the House. Also, maximum parties voted against the government policy. Sushma Swaraj alleged that Mulayam walked out, fearing the CBI axe.