Biju Janata Dal to support Insurance Bill in the Parliament [The Economic Times]

In a boost to the government, Biju Janata Dal today said it will Insurance Bill which will be moved in the Rajya Sabha on Monday.

"The government has circulated about 97 amendments in the Rajya Sabha. The amendments moved by the government have given clarity. We will support the bill," BJD leader Bhartruhari Mahtab told PTI here today.

He said his party was opposed to the bill introduced by the UPA government as there was no clarity on certain issues. "There was no rider on FIIs," he said.

The BJD has seven members in the Rajya Sabha. The Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill, Modi government's first major reform initiative to raise FDI cap in the sector to 49 per cent, has been listed in Monday's government agenda in the Upper House.

However, uncertainty still looms over the immediate passage of the bill with nine parties including the Congress giving notice in Rajya Sabha for referring the bill to a Select Committee.

Congress, CPI-M, CPI, SP, BSP, DMK, JD (U), Trinamool Congress and RJD have given a notice to the Chairman of the Upper House Hamid Ansari for referring the controversial bill to a Select Committee.

AIADMK, which despite not being an ally supports the government on key issues, has also agreed to back the nine parties in the endeavour though it is not a signatory to the notice.

It has been agreed upon among the Opposition parties that as soon as the government moves the controversial Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill in the Rajya Sabha on Monday, they will move a motion pressing for referring it to the Select Committee.

The BJP-led NDA does not have a majority in the Upper House and Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu has refused to react on the possibility of the bill being referred to the Select Committee.

The bill, which has already been through the Standing Committee, seeks to raise the ceiling of FDI in the insurance sector to 49 per cent from the current 26 percent.

Congress has been claiming that the bill was originally its idea, but now several new provisions have been added including allowing investment by FIIs, which is "extremely mobile, uncertain and like quicksand".