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Protests mount, political moves gain momentum: insurance bill's fate hangs in balance

Amberish K Diwanji in New Delhi

The Insurance Regulatory Authority bill is running into trouble. Employees of the state-run Life Insurance Corporation and General Insurance Corporation today went on a strike to protest against the bill.

The insurance employees strike also coincided with the nationwide industrial strike. The latter strike was supported by the Congress and also by some of the constituent parties of the Bharatiya Janata Party alliance: the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, the Telugu Desam Party and the National Conference.

Sharad Pawar and P Shiv Shankar, Congress leader and deputy leader in the Lok Sabha, participated in the rally held outside Parliament House this morning. It remains unclear whether the Congress will support the insurance reform bill, as is widely believed, or oppose it.

The Congress high command has taken the view that the party must support the bill given the fact that it is a party committed to economic reforms. It was during the rule of P V Narasimha Rao that the then finance minister Manmohan Singh introduced sweeping reforms in 1991, opening up India to the world.

It is clear that if the Congress does not support the insurance bill, then the bill has little chance of being passed. The BJP has a very thin majority, and if some of its own allies oppose the bill (as some have indicated), then the party will face an embarrassing defeat on the floor of the House.

The insurance workers -- under the aegis of the All India Insurance Employees Association, a sister organisation of the Communist Party of India-Marxist -- have warned the BJP against introducing the bill. And many of their members, who are in touch with the leaders from the various political parties, insist that many of the members of Parliament will not vote in favour of the IRA bill.

CPI-M leader Sitaram Yechuri told Rediff On The NeT that the Left parties are seeking the support of the Congress in opposing the insurance bill. "We used the BJP's help in opposing the bill when it was introduced by Palanippan Chidambaram of the United Front; now we are taking Congress help to do it again."

Vimal Paliwal, joint secretary of the AIIEA, is busy lobbying with the Congress and other party MPs and said that many of them are worried about supporting the bill, fearing that doing so might antagonise the sizeable workers in the public sector.

"The Congress is also not keen to let the BJP garner the glory of introducing the very bill which was first mooted by Manmohan Singh. They would rather save it for their time," he added.

The insurance bill was to be introduced on Monday. However, the failure of the government to introduce the controversial women's reservation bill, which is strongly opposed by Mulayam Singh Yadav of the Samajwadi Party and others, on Friday means that this bill will have to reintroduced on Monday. Thus, the earliest the insurance bill can be introduced now is Tuesday.

The AIIEA official said a likely move by the government might be to introduce the bill and then refer it to a committee to look into the matter. This had been hinted at earlier by K R Malkani, BJP leader and MP, who is strongly opposed to the insurance bill even as his party has decided to back the bill.

Paliwal said the Congress presence at the rally had given them hope. "Pawar has only said that the Congress is against the BJP's economic policies. He has not spoken about the insurance bill specifically, but we remain hopeful."

His hope rests on the fact that the Congress may be loath to earn the wrath of India's 4.3 million workers in various public sector enterprises, especially since many predicting an early general election.

If the government seeks to pass the bill and fails to do so, it may be forced to resign.

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