Insurance Bill gains BJD aid, but impasse remains
An all-party meeting remained inconclusive with the Congress sticking to its position
By : e.t.b. sivapriyan
Update: 2014-08-05 04:58 GMT
NEW DELHI: The BJP-led NDA government on Monday once again deferred tab-ling of the Insurance Amendment Bill and gave two days time for the Congress and other political parties to suggest changes to the Bill even as it asked the Opposition not to “play politics” over the issue.
An all-party meeting convened by parliamentary affairs minister M. Venkaiah Naidu and finance minister Arun Jaitley remained inconclusive with the Congress sticking to its gun that the Bill should be sent to a select panel.
Having enlisted the support of the AIADMK and BJD, which has a combined strength of 18 MPs, the Union government was spending all its energy on convincing the Congress and the Trinamul why they should cooperate with the dispensation and get the Bill passed.
Mr Jaitely said the language and contents of the Bill were that of the UPA government only and no major new amendments were proposed while agreeing to consider the suggestions put forth by the Congress.
With the Congress unrelenting, Mr Jaitley said that they should either cooperate in getting the Bill passed or reject and not “play politics with economic reforms.”
“Either they vote for the Bill, or they reject the Bill, the third option they suggest some minor changes and get the Bill passed,” Mr Jaitely said.