Congress on Monday played the secular card seeking to drive a wedge among opposition parties which are trying to corner the government on price rise issue.
With 13 opposition parties, including the Left, deciding to join hands to bring a cut motion in the Lok Sabha and BJP hinting at doing the same separately, Congress said Left and secular parties should introspect on joining hands with BJP.
"Those who indulge in negative politics without any constructive suggestions will stand exposed at the bar of public opinion. By merely destabilising a recently re-elected secular formation, they are bound to incur the wrath of the people of India," Party spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said.
He was reacting to a group of 13 opposition parites, excluding BJP, deciding to wage a joint agitation on price rise on April 27 and bring cut motion and amendment to the Finance Bill to be moved to demand rollback of fuel and fertiliser price rise.
Another Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari said "it is for Left and secular parties to instrospect whether secularism is a dead issue for them specially in the context that Gujarat Chief Minister is being investigated for his role in the worst communal pogrom since independence and BJP, instead of rejecting him, is embracing him all the more tightly. At this point, Left and other secular parties are going to make a common cause".
He said the party is ready is absolutely prepared to face any such eventuality and there was "no cause for concern or alarm". "...Congress and its allies are absolutely prepared and there is no cause for concern or alarm," was his response when asked how will the party meet the challenge on cut motion.
A cut motion puts to test the strength of the government in the Lok Sabha. If the motion is adopted, it amounts to defeat of the government on a money matter.
The second phase of the budget session is beginning on April 15. Left parties, which are spearheading the move for cut motion, are working towards a strategy so that the entire Opposition, including BJP, could vote on a single cut motion in Lok Sabha.
Asked how will the government manage with a wafer thin majority in the event of RJD and SP, which supported it from outside, moving out of its fold during cut motion, a Congress leader on condition of anonymity indicated the government has a strategy.
"Whether we will remain at 276, 286 or more, all this will be decided on the floor of the House...the cushion comes from various sides. Things are not uni-dimensional. There is a need to look at their multi-dimensions," said he. PTI
