Minister of State for PMO V Narayanasamy on Sunday said that the UPA government enjoyed a majority in the Lok Sabha despite the withdrawal of support by Trinamool Congress following differences over FDI in retail sector, diesel price hike and the regulation on subsidised LPG cylinders.
Addressing reporters here, Narayanasamy claimed the support of 310 MPs, 37 more than the majority mark of 273, belonging to the DMK, NCP, National Conference and IUML, in addition to external support from Samajwadi Party (SP) and the BSP. The minister added that SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav had assured his support to the government till 2014.
Justifying the recent hike in diesel prices, he said the Centre had given `1,40,000 crore as subsidy during 2011-12 as oil companies were running at a loss of `20,000 crore.
The government might have to set apart `2 lakh crore as subsidy this year, which would affect the spending on education, health and social welfare sectors, he noted.
Narayanasamy also slammed the BJP for organising protests against policy decisions, claiming that the party had no moral right to do so since it had hiked diesel and petrol prices 27 times during the NDA rule.
He also said that the saffron party had proposed FDI in selected retail sectors when it was in power in 2002 but the proposal could not be implemented then. Speaking on whether Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee was aware of the decision on FDI, Narayansamy said that the issue was discussed in a Cabinet meeting but the Trinamool minister failed to attend it. He also pointed out that FDI initiatives were mentioned in Trinamool Congress’s manifesto for 2011 Assembly elections but were later termed as a printing mistake.
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