Live: All-party meet on SL resolution yields no consensus

10.53 pm: Srikant Jena gets additional charge of portfolio held by Alagiri Union Minister Srikant Jena gets additional charge of Chemicals and Fertilizers portfolio earlier held by DMK’s M K Alagiri. 10.23 pm: PM accepts resignations by DMK Resignations of DMK ministers were accepted by the Prime MinisterManmohan singh and sent to President Pranab Mukherjee. 9.03pm: All party meet ends without consensus The all party meet, called by the Speaker, has not worked to evolve an all party consensus over the Sri Lankan resolution. At the 90-minute meeting, only DMK and AIADMK (rpt) AIADMK supported the idea of bringing a resolution. Sources said as most of the parties were not in favour, the idea is as good as given up. Samajwadi Party, which supports the government from outside, said Sri Lanka is a friendly country and the Indian parliament should not pass a resolution against it. “We are with Lankan Tamils but there is no need for a resolution by Parliament as Lanka is the only country which stood with us during the 1962 China war. “We have recently rejected Pakistan parliament resolution on Afzal Guru. How can we do the same to a friendly neighbour. At the UNHCR, India should do what is in the national interest and interst of Tamils of Lanka,” said SP leader Rewati Raman Singh while emerging from the meeting convened by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath. JD(U) Sharad Yadav also echoed similar views at the meeting where he is understood to have questioned the logic of adopting a resolution against a sovereign nation. He is believed to have told the meeting that if India has to provide relief to Sri Lankan Tamils, it should do so without antagonising the host country, sources said. Nath said the meeting was “inconclusive” He said the meeting had been called to end the impasse in Parliament over the Lankan Tamil issue but “it has not produced any results”. Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj questioned why all parties had been called for the meeting to discuss an issue which strictly is between the government and DMK. DMK, which withdrew from the government yesterday, had demanded that government should get a resolution passed by Parliament against Sri Lanka. Swaraj said the government had told the Opposition that it wanted to hold the meeting to end the impasse in Parliament over Sri Lanka. “We had never created the impasse. The impasse is between government and DMK and it is for them to sit together and resolve it,” she said. CPI leader Gurudas Dasgupta said the issue was between the government and DMK to settle. 8.24 pm: No consensus yet on Sri Lanka resolution As political parties discuss the resolution on Sri Lanka at the all party meet, CNN-IBN quotes sources as saying that no consensus has been reached regarding the issue. Sources have said that several parties including SP and JD-U have opposed a country specific resolution. It is said that the draft resolution does not use the word ‘genocide’ as demanded by DMK. 7.36 pm: All party meet called by Speaker begins The all party meeting called by Lok Sabha speak Meira Kumar is under way at the moment. The Parliamentary resolution on Sri Lanka will be finalised in the meeting. 7.33: Strategy meet underway at Shinde’s office According to CNN-IBN, government sources have said that draft resolution prepared on Sri Lanka will be shared with all parties. The sources said that the word ‘genocide’ has not been included in the draft. 7.15: Mamata to support UPA?  Mamata Banerjee has surprisingly said that she will back the UPA government on whatever stand it takes at  Geneva, where a resolution on alleged war crimes by Sri Lanka will be put to vote tomorrow. “We are deeply concerned about the atrocities meted out to a section of Tamil population in a foreign country,” said a statement by Ms Banerjee on Facebook page. However, she added, “Our Party follows a policy that we should not interfere into issues involving external relations with foreign countries. We leave it for the Central Government to decide on such issues.” 6.55 pm: Strategy meet at Shinde’s office to break impasse A strategy meet will be held at Sushilkumar Shinde’s office at 7 pm to discuss the resolution on Sri Lanka and break the impasse on the issue. According to CNN-IBN Kamal Nath, Rajiv Shukla and P Chidambaram will attend the meeting. 5.55 pm: TMC may support UPA on Sri Lanka resolution According to PTI sources, Trinamool Congress has conveyed to the UPA that it will stand by it on its foreign policy issue concerning Sri Lanka. Earlier in the day Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath had met TMC Chief Mamata Banerjee.

Trinamool is deeply concerned abt the sentiments expresd by our Tamil brothers & sisters. we share their sentiments & r fully with them 1/2

— All India Trinamool Congress (@AITCofficial) March 20, 2013

2/2 From the beginning, on matters of external affairs, our policy has been to stand by the central govt.

— All India Trinamool Congress (@AITCofficial) March 20, 2013

  4.29 pm: All-party meeting on Sri Lanka resolution today The government has called for an all-party meeting at 7.30 pm to finalise a Parliamentary resolution on Sri Lanka. The move was expected, as the government has been saying from the start that they needed the consensus of all parties to pass such a resolution. However, another round of meetings to discuss the draft resolution may take place today, before the meeting which is due in an hour. In terms of the resolution against Sri Lanka at the UN, unconfirmed reports indicate that the Prime Minister has also expressed an unwillingness to formulate a country specific resolution or the term genocide. It is also expected that instead of calling for an international probe into war crimes, the government will call for a “credible impartial” probe. However the amendments are supposedly more stringent. These amendments are also expected to be discussed at this evenings all-party meet. Meanwhile student protests against Sri Lanka are intensifying in Chennai, with around 1500 students near Marina beach conducting a road roko. 4.00 pm: Consultations on amendments to resolution still on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will take the final call on the nature of the amendments that the Indian government is planning to introduce to the UNHRC resolution on Sri Lanka. The Times Now channel reported that the consultations on the wordings were still on, which effectively means that India will not have much time to ask that they are incorporated in the resolution. The resolution will go to vote in Geneva tomorrow, which means India has a day to introduce the amendments, build consensus and have them incorporated in the final text. Minister of External Affairs, Salman Khurshid, has said that once  a decision is taken, he would take over. 2.59 pm: Mulayam meets Sharad Pawar Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav meets NCP chief Sharad Pawar at his residence. The meeting is reportedly on Beni Prasad Verma’s comments against Mulayam.  The meeting may be very significant as it comes in such a crucial time when UPA is struggling with its allies. Reports say Mulayam Yadav has been in talks with the NCP supremo for several days now. Is third-front in the making? 2. 44 pm: Vote on Sri Lanka resolution tomorrow Reports say the UNHRC voting on the draft resolution against Sri Lanka will begin tomorrow at 10 am in Geneva.  The resolution on Sri Lanka is the first of the 40 resolutions to be voted in the next two days. 2.27 pm: Sonia pleads for Beni Prasad with ‘folded hands’ With SP staying firm on its stand for removal of Beni Prasad Verma from the government, UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi today reached out to Mulayam Singh Yadav in Lok Sabha and asked him with folded hands to give up his demand for his resignation, according to PTI. Samajwadi Party got support from unexpected quarters when Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj said the matter should be referred to the Privileges Committee. Gandhi, who was present in the House and was watching the new bonhomie between SP, an outside supporter of the government, and BJP, walked upto Yadav’s seat soon after the Lok Sabha was adjourned around noon. Though she was not audible to reporters in the press gallery, Gandhi was seen talking to Yadav with folded hands. During the conversation, Yadav complained about Verma to Gandhi, who requested him to give up his demand for the Minister’s resignation, according to SP sources. BJP members, as well as senior ministers of the UPA government, were reportedly taken aback at this. Soon after Gandhi left, Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh (SP) came over to Swaraj and LK Advani to inform them about the development and said they were still firm on their stand, the sources said. Yadav too walked upto the BJP benches and reiterated his stand. 2.19 pm: Lalu adds his two cents on Mulayam, Lankan Tamils No national issue would be complete with Lalu Prasad’s take and he obligingly holds forth both on the Lankan Tamils issue and the Mulayam - Beni Prasad spat. “This issue is about our Tamil brothers, we should sit down and talk about it and come to a solution together”, he said, when asked about the DMK decision to pull out of the UPA over the issue. As for Beni Prasad, he said that the comment against Mulayam Yadav was unneccessary and that Beni Prasad should mind his words. “These type of Ministers who spoil the atmosphere of politics should be removed”, he said, adding that they wanted the government to continue because the country was not ready for elections as yet. He also ventured a prediction: that the UPA would complete its full term! 1.57 pm: Mulayam meets PM, says decision on Beni Prasad tomorrow Mulayam Singh Yadav has just Prime Minister Manmohan Singh - the latest in a flurry of meetings with Congress Ministers - and has said that he will make a final decision on Beni Prasad Verma tomorrow. After the meeting Mulayam refused to answer any questions on Verma’s ’expression of regret’ saying that they had told the Prime Minister their opinion on the matter, and that a final decision would be taken at a meeting tomorrow morning. From the TMC to the DMK to the SP, the UPA ally troubles don’t look like they are going to end anytime soon! 1.45 pm: SP wants Beni Prasad to apologise on the floor of the house Has all the behind the scenes bartering succeeded in allowing Beni Prasad Verma to keep his job? The Samajwadi Party who were earlier calling for nothing short of his resignation has now said that he should apologise in the house. “His expression of regret was well and good, but we want him to apologise inside Parliament”, he said. However they have not mentioned whether this would be acceptable in lieu of his resignation. SP leader Mulayam Singh Yadav who met with Congress President Sonia Gandhi, is now in a meeting with Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde. It remains to be seen if the government can put the issue to rest once and for all. 1.18 pm: Beni Prasad apologises as SP bays for his resignation Beni Prasad Verma has just made a vaguely worded public apology for his comments on Mulayam Singh Yadav. Speaking to media outside Parliament, Verma said “if anyone was hurt by what I said, I express my regrets”. Verma was flagged by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath. It will be interesting to see if this is going to be enough for the SP who have been taking advantage of the UPA’s precarious position in the wake of the DMK pullout and calling for his removal as Minister. The beleaguered Beni Prasad Verma made the comments shortly after a meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, which followed another meet between Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Mulayam Singh Yadav. Earlier speaking to the Times Now channel, Verma said it was not his intention to initiate a new controversy and would speak to senior Congress leaders. However he insisted that the Mulayam chapter was now closed. Verma generated massive outrage when he called Mulayam a ‘friend of terrorists’ and accused him of taking a commission to support the UPA government in Parliament. BSP leader Mayawati meanwhile has said that the issue is between the SP and Congress. 12.46 pm: Indian envoy to UN, Khurshid meet PM India’s envoy to the UN, Dilip Sinha who met Foreign secretary Ranjan Mathai earlier, is now in a meeting with Minister of External Affairs Salman Khurshid and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the final draft of the UNHRC resolution against Sri Lanka. The meeting is expected to discuss the final wording of the resolution as well as specific amendments intended to make it stronger. No further details were immediately available. 12.22 pm: Sonia Gandhi meets Mulayam to sort out Beni Prasad mess Congress President Sonia Gandhi is meeting Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav in an effort to sort out the mess around Beni Prasad Verma. Verma generated massive outrage when he called Mulayam a ‘friend of terrorists’ and accused him of taking a commission to support the UPA government in Parliament. Mulayam and the Samajwadi Party have been calling for Verma’s removal as a Minister, and following the UPA vulnerability in the wake of the DMK withdrawal, the calls have only got louder. Leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj gleefully added fuel to the fire, goading Mulayam Singh Yadav over Beni Prasad Verma’s comments that the SP leader had taken a ‘commission’ to support the UPA. “Mulayam ji! How could he say that? Is this justice? It was uncalled for!” she shouted across the din being made by the DMK and AIADMK MPs in the well of the house. Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Kamal Nath who expressed regret at Beni Prasad Verma’s comment in Parliament, said today at a press briefing that the chapter was now closed. Well it looks like the Samajwadi Party has just reopened it! In other news from Parliament, DMK MP Vasanthi Stanley fainted while protesting against Sri Lanka in the Rajya Sabha and was rushed to hospital. Now that’s dedication for you! 12.02 pm: Indian envoy to UN meets Foreign Secretary on SL resolution India’s envoy to the UN, Dilip Sinha, has met Foreign secretary Ranjan Mathai, ostensibly on further amending the UN resolution on Sri Lanka. Earlier this morning at a press conference, Finance Minister P Chidambaram said that the government had finalised several amendments to the UNHCR resolution on Sri Lanka, and would instruct Sinha to introduce them at a UNHRC meeting in Geneva. Chidambaram also strongly denied media reports that India had worked with the US to dilute the original text of the resolution against Sri Lanka, saying that such reports were blatantly false. “India’s position has always been for a stronger resolution against Sri Lanka that would goad it in to accepting an independent probe”, he said. Meanwhile Sri Lanka has completely rejected the resolution, according to IANS. In letters addressed to foreign ministers of UNHRC member countries, External Affairs Minister GL Peiris said Sri Lanka believes that drawing disproportionate attention to Sri Lanka’s situation and introducing resolution that seeks to discredit, single out the country are unhelpful and counterproductive to Sri Lanka’s current reconciliation process, reported Xinhua. The minister noted that the beneficiaries of such action would be none other than the divisive forces that seek to destabilize the hard won peace in the country. Moreover, he said the precedent created by intrusive, biased and politicized actions such as the US sponsored resolution on Sri Lanka would pose danger for all nations. “Just as the government of Sri Lanka did not recognize the last HRC resolution, it rejects the new resolution. Sri Lanka seeks the understanding and the support of HRC member states at the vote on this resolution,” the minister said in his letter. The US Monday tabled the final version of the resolution at the 22nd session of the UNHRC in Geneva, with co-sponsors including Austria, Canada, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Norway and Britain. 11.50 am: DMK Ministers hand over resignations to PM The five DMK MPs who submitted their resignations to President Pranab Mukherjee have just walked into the Prime Ministers office to submit their resignations from the government. The delegation is being led by senior DMK leader TR Baalu. The five DMK Ministers who are resigning are: M K ALAGIRI, Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers S S PALANIMANICKAM, MOS in the Ministry of Finance D NAPOLEON, MOS in Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment S JAGATHRAKSHAKAN, MOS in Ministry of Information & Broadcasting S GANDHISELVAN, MOS in Ministry of Health and Family Welfare Meanwhile Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath is reportedly meeting MPs from the TMC and BJP in an effort to build consensus on a country specific resolution on Sri Lanka as demanded by the DMK. While announcing the decision to withdraw from the coalition, DMK supremo Karunanidhi said that they would reconsider the decision if a Parliamentary resolution on Sri Lanka was adopted. 11.35 am: Curtains for Beni Prasad Verma? SP piles on pressure More trouble for the beleaguered UPA which already finds itself in the unenviable position of having to maintain a majority on the backing of two parties that are at loggerheads with each other. The Samajwadi Party has reportedly demanded that Beni Prasad Verma be removed as a Union Minister. The trouble began when Beni Prasad reportedly called Samajwadi Party head Mulayam Singh Yadav a ‘friend of terrorists’. Mulayam has been insisting that Beni Prasad Verma is removed as a cabinet minister and also wants an apology. Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Kamal Nath who expressed regret at Beni Prasad’s comment in Parliament said today at a press briefing that the chapter was now closed. Well it looks like the Samajwadi Party has just reopened it. Look forward to another exciting day of coalition drama folks! 11.22 am: No plan to bring no confidence motion against UPA, says BJP BJP spokesman Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi has ruled out any plans to bring a no-confidence motion against the government, saying that the BJP was more than content to watch it fall on its own. The BJP has been mantaining that the DMK pullout over Sri Lanka was just an excuse for the party to quit the coalition, because they did not want to be associated with the UPA during campaigning for elections. Yesterday the BJP said that in the wake of the DMK pullout, the government was ‘practically and technically over’. 11.05 am: Both houses of Parliament adjourned over Lankan Tamil issue No surprises there really. The DMK were disrupting Parliament all morning on Tuesday as well. Expect most of the action to take place in behind the scenes negotiations and not on the floor of the house. 10.48 am: Chidu says markets nosedived because of Cyprus and not DMK Finance Minister P Chidambaram who has been ‘rejecting’ the use of terms like instability and uncertainty went one further and said that yesterday’s market nosedive was not because of the DMK. “The markets fell yesterday because of Cyprus and because of the RBI rate cut. Why do you assume that the pullout of just one coalition partner would affect the markets?” he asked. Except that the markets were flat after the RBI rate cut was announced, and started tanking immediately after the DMK announcement. It recovered 50 points after the Finance Minister assured investors that the government still had a majority. More on that here . Analysts believe that the immediate concern for the markets is not political instability but whether UPA will have the room to go ahead with reforms especially diesel price hike. 10.35 am: Coalition politics are bound to have some hiccups, says smiling Chidambaram Both Kamal Nath and Chidambaram spend a few minutes trying to convince the media gathering that the government is stable. “What you must understand is that the UPA is in its ninth year of power and we have run a coalition government for nine years. There are bound to be some hiccups”, said a smiling Chidambaram. Responding to a question on whether the government was too weak to attract investments, Chidambaram said that the government had its hand firmly on the wheel. “Yesterday we passed the food security bill. Is that the action of a weak government? I assure you we have the necessary majority to pass each and every bill” And in what could be the first cracking of his smiling facade, the Finance Minister smilingly snaps at the media, saying that all speculation that the government is now weak was all a media creation. “No one is speculating, only the media is speculating. Please stop speculating!”, he said. 10.27 am: ‘We are not lame duck, we are a stable government’, says Kamal Nath Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Kamal Nath confirmed that the government was in the process of consulting political parties on the possibility of formulating and passing a country specific resolution on Sri Lanka and said that he wanted to ‘reiterate’ that UPA was not a lame duck government. ‘We are er.. not a lame duck government. We are stable and we have the numbers. Please note that no party has challenged our majority”, said Kamal Nath sounding as though he was reading from a piece of paper, instead of speaking out of any real conviction. Nath added that different political parties had divergent views on country specific resolutions and all these opinions would be taken on board. 10.17 am: India to move amendments to UN resolution on Sri Lanka Finance Minister P Chidambaram who began his media briefing by  recapping the developments leading up to the pullout of the DMK, said that certain amendments to the UNHRC resolution on Sri Lanka have been finalised, and that India’s representative to Geneva has been instructed to introduce them at a UNHRC meeting. Chidambaram also strongly denied media reports that India had worked with the US to dilute the original text of the resolution against Sri Lanka, saying that such reports were blatantly false.  “India’s position has always been for a stronger resolution against Sri Lanka that would goad it in to accepting an independent probe”, he said. He said that he was not aware why the DMK had gone ahead and pulled out of the UPA, because the government had been moving on all the demands put forward by the DMK leadership for a stronger UN resolution and a Parliamentary resolution on Sri Lanka. As for the Parliamentary resolution on India, Chidambaram said that political negotiations were still on. 10.13 am: Manish Tewari, Kamal Nath and Chidambaram to address media The UPA government is about to hold a Press conference and are portraying an image of absolute relaxation, laughing and joking among each other. They have been doing that for a good ten minutes now, perhaps in an effort to underscore just how unworried they are. Rumour has it that they have been burning the midnight oil in an effort to find a way out of the crisis they are in. If so, it doesn’t show. It’s all smiles, joviality and camaraderie among these three. If its method acting, we’re impressed! 10.06 am: BJP rules out country specific resolution, says ‘India is not Pakistan’ The BJP has said that passing a country specific resolution on Sri Lanka as demanded by the BJP is not a desirable action, saying that unlike Pakistan, India was a funcitonal democracy. BJP spokesman Rajiv Pratap Rudy said that the DMK action was just born out of a desire to look for an excuse to quit the UPA government and was not fuelled by any real concern for Sri Lankan Tamils. 9.30 am: SP asks UPA to ‘introspect’, pledges support ‘for now’ The Samajwadi Party which has not been as vocal as rival BSP in its support for the UPA government in the wake of the DMK pullout, has said that the government needs to ‘introspect why all its allies are leaving them’. SP leader Ram Gopal Yadav said, “if the Congress doesn’t introspect now all their allies will leave”. He added that the SP would continue to support the UPA “for the moment”, adding that  they didn’t know what would happen in politics. It is interesting that the DMK pullout comes at a time when there has been some tension between the UPA and Samajwadi Party following Union Minister Beni Prasad Yadav’s comments calling SP leader Mulayam Singh Yadav a “friend of terrorists”. Mulayam has been insisting that Beni Prasad Yadav is removed as a cabinet minister and also wants an apology. Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Kamal Nath who expressed regret at Beni Prasad Yadav’s comment has been trying to broker a peace between the two sides, but Beni Prasad Yadav had reportedly been refusing to apologize. Given how the balance of power has suddenly swung, it will be interesting to see what his fate is going to be. 9.00 am: DMK officially quits, but govt unshaken Perhaps in an effort to silence the scornful voices that kept calling the DMK move to pull out of the government nothing but ‘posturing’, a five-member DMK delegation headed by TR Baalu handed over a letter by party supremo M Karunanidhi to President Pranab Mukherjee at 10.30 pm at Rashtrapati Bhavan withdrawing support of its 18 Lok Sabha MPs to the UPA government. Baalu said that the ministers would meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to submit their resignations today, adding that there was little to no possibility of a reconciliation with the government. [caption id=“attachment_667986” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Reuters[/caption] “Who said there is a window of resolution. After having submitted the letter of withdrawal of support, where is the window of resolution?", he said in response to a question from a reporter. DMK Minister TRK Elangovan also said that the DMK now had its own programme, policies, and political agenda which did not fit in with the UPA. Despite all the developments, however, the government is reportedly not worried about garnering a majority in the Lok Sabha. With the pull-out of the DMK, here is how the numbers stand: Total strength of House — 540 Halfway mark — 270 UPA with DMK — 295 Without DMK — 234 With outside support from SP and BSP: 277 The Times Now channel quoting sources, said that the government is confident of the support of 281 MPs although it is not clear how they arrived at that number. The government is scheduled to hold a press conference at around 10.15 am. Meanwhile the government will be reportedly seeking a consensus from all political parties to seek their views on whether it should go ahead with passing a Parliamentary resolution condemning ‘genocide’ and ‘war crimes’ in Sri Lanka. The DMK also wants the resolution to call for an international probe into atrocities committed during the final stages of the Sri Lankan civil war. The BJP has already expressed discomfort at the use of the term ‘genocide’ in the resolution, and it is likely that the government will not pass the resolution unless all major parties agree on the wording.