A Trinamool Congress move that could have embarrassed the government in Parliament over NCTC issue on Wednesday came a cropper with the rejection of its amendment to the President's address seeking deletion of the reference to the controversial matter.
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee addresses the media after a meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh regarding the setting up of controversial National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC), in New Delhi. PTI/Kamal Kishore
The amendment, moved by Trinamool Chief Whip in the Lok Sabha Kalyan Banerjee on Tuesday, was negatived on technical grounds.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will be replying to the three-day discussion in the Lok Sabha on the motion of thanks to the President tomorrow following which it will be put to vote.
Banerjee had put up an "objection" to a para in the President's address which refers to the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC), an issue over which the Trinamool Congress has made common cause with the opposition and some non-Congress Chief Ministers.
Parliament sources said that the amendment was being dropped for technical reasons as it was wrongly worded.
While around 2,700 amendments to the President's Address to Parliament have been submitted in both Houses in a bid to corner the government on issues like NCTC, federalism and corruption, government sources said that even if any of them is passed, it could at best be an embarrassment for the ruling coalition.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal dismissed any threat to the government on any issue, saying that it has the required numbers.
"The government has got a mandate for five years. It has the total numbers that is required. There is no threat," Bansal said replying to a number of questions including whether the UPA coalition will face problems if BSP and SP fail to support it.