The NDA government headed by Narendra Modi would have faced major embarrassment on Friday, had the Rajya Sabha taken up voting on the private member bill introduced by Congress MP K V P Ramachandra Rao seeking special category status to Andhra Pradesh.
Had the voting taken place, the bill would have been passed, since the NDA does not have majority in the House and 11 parties have supported it. And the government would have been compelled to make an announcement on special category status.
But, finance minister Arun Jaitely put the spokes at the eleventh hour, when Rajya Sabha deputy chairman P J Kurien was about to put it for voting. Jaitely raised an objection to the voting, stating that KVP Bill was a money bill as all the provisions made in the bill had financial implications.
Kurien sought the opinion of leaders of all the other parties, but they said it was not a money bill. Congress MP Kapil Sibal said any bill, for that matter, has some connection with the consolidation fund of India, as it requires money to implement the bill. He explained in detail how bill on special category status cannot be called a money bill.
While agreeing with the members, Kurien said since there are some objections to the bill, the Rajya Sabha has no powers to decide on whether it was the money bill or not. So, as per the rules, he said he was referring to Lok Sabha Speaker. As a result, KVP Bill remained pending again!
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