NCP not to oppose TRAI Bill

Pawar says retired bureaucrats reappointed even before

New Delhi: Nationalist Congress Party President Sharad Pawar with his daughter and party MP Supriya Sule at Parliament House in New Delhi on Friday during the budget session. PTI Photo by Manvender Vashist(PTI7_11_2014_000081B)

The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) announced on Saturday its support for the Bill which >validates the appointment of former Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) chairman Nripendra Misra as Principal Secretary to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Mr. Misra’s appointment was made possible through an ordinance soon after the new government was sworn in. The TRAI Act bars its former chairmen and members from taking up government jobs after leaving office. The National Democratic Alliance government introduced the Bill to change this clause, which several parties, including the Congress, has opposed.

“We will not oppose the Bill. It is not the first time that a retired bureaucrat has been reappointed to a position in the government,” said NCP chief Sharad Pawar at a press conference.

Mr. Pawar also chose not to support the Congress’s allegations of a political witch-hunt in the

National Herald case. The charge was made after Congress president Sonia Gandhi received an income tax notice in the case. “These things happen. The NCP was also served with an income tax notice, even though the UPA was in power,” said Mr. Pawar.

Mr. Pawar, however, agreed with the Congress’s demand for the post of Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha. “It is an institution which must be preserved. I feel some solution will emerge,” he said.

On the Maharashtra Assembly election, Mr. Pawar said: “Seat-sharing talks would begin soon with the Congress and winnability should be the key criterion.”

Other opposition parties are likely to extend only limited support to the Congress’s floor strategy in Parliament next week, even as it is locked in a dispute with the BJP over eligibility for the post of Leader of Opposition. The Janata Dal (United) and the Left parties think the Congress’s opposition to the TRAI ordinance is more a tactical weapon to get the government concede its demand for the post. The Congress is bargaining hard with the government over chairmanships of parliamentary committees. In the first week of the session, while the Trinamool Congress has been belligerent towards the government, the AIADMK has been supportive of the government and critical of the Congress. Mr. Pawar’s dissociation from the Congress strategy is indicative of the differences within the opposition camp.