Motor vehicles bill: AIADMK, BJD join hands with Oppn
UNITED Parties demand changes, say power of states being eroded
NEW DELHI: A week after the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) and the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) refused to vote with the Opposition camp in the no-confidence motion against the Narendra Modi government, the two regional powerhouses have joined forces with other opposition parties to demand major changes to the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill on the grounds that it erodes the power of the states.
With parties such as the Congress, the Trinamool Congress, the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the Communist Party of India, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, the Samajwadi Party, the Bahujan Samaj Party, and the AIADMK and the BJD demanding amendments, transport minister Nitin Gadkari may call a meeting next week to hammer out the differences.
The Opposition has largely alleged that the bill adversely affects the federal structure of the Constitution and could jeopardise the states’ transport sector. “This policy will take away thousands of local jobs and ruin the state’s transport system,” said BJD leader Pratap Keshari Deb.
The Opposition parties have zeroed in on over half a dozen amendments they would like to discuss with the government. The Trinamool Congress leader Derek O’Brien said it’s up to the government to sort things out now.
He said, “The ball is on the government’s court. They stopped the debate on the bill in Rajya Sabha the other day.”
Several opposition leaders including Deb and the Aam Aadmi Party’s Sanjay Singh have sought an amendment to clause 33 that says that the central government should be authorised to make its own law “in consultation” with states.