In a volte face that indicates the keenness of the Naveen Patnaik regime to curry favour with the Narendra Modi Government at the Centre, the State’s ruling BJD on Saturday said it would support the Insurance Bill in the Rajya Sabha on Monday while it had opposed the same Bill tooth and nail during the previous UPA regime.
“We will support the Bill when it comes up for discussion in the Rajya Sabha,” BJD leader in lok Sabha Bhartruhari Mahtab said.
Asked about the reason for the party’s opposition to the Bill during the UPA rule, Mahtab said his party had opposed it then since there was no clarity on certain issues in the Bill introduced by the UPA Government.
“This Government has circulated about 97 amendments in the Rajya Sabha, and the amendments moved by the Government have clarified things,” he argued.
The Insurance laws (Amendment) Bill, the Modi Government’s first major reform initiative to raise the FDI cap in the sector to 49 per cent, has been listed in Monday’s Government agenda in the Rajya Sabha.
However, uncertainty still looms over the immediate passage of the Bill despite the BJD’s support, which has seven members in the Upper House, with nine parties, including the Congress, giving notice for referring the Bill to a Select Committee. No matter what spin the BJD gives its sudden turn around on the issue, there is little doubt that it cannot afford to be on the wrong side of the Modi Government because of a series of scams that the Patnaik Government is facing, say political observers.
The Congress, CPI(M), CPI, SP, BSP, DMK, JD (U), Trinamool Congress and RJD have given a notice to Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari for referring the Bill to a Select Committee. The AIADMK, which is not an ally of the NDA but supports its Government on key issues, has also agreed to back the nine parties in the endeavour though it is not a signatory to the notice.