Food Bill not a game changer for Congress: Shekhar Gupta

Shekhar Gupta, Editor-in-Chief of The Indian Express feels the SP-Congress squabble is a side show right now. The Food Bill will pass even if SP does not support, because others will support it, but the question is how many Bills will the BJP allow to pass.

Also Read: Monsoon Session begins today, Food Bill ordinace awaits
According to Gupta, BJP is okay with allowing the PFRDA Bill to pass, couple of amendments to Sebi Act pass, but there is still some confusion on letting the hike insurance FDI from 26 to 49 to pass. He says the BJP is split on the Insurance FDI Bill, though a larger section would be happy to let it pass, but there is a small and influential section is against it.
Shekhar Gupta told CNBC-TV18, he thinks the insurance bill will pass, because after this there is only one session left in the Parliament, which will be followed by the 4-state election.
On the Food Bill, Gupta feels the BJP will ask for amendments. Though no party is likely to block it, but it will be a good idea to stall the Bill. According to him, it would be better to ask for deeper improvement, deeper reforms. He says even Amartya Sen has been saying give subsidy to the poor for food, but take it away from the middle class.
He does not believe the Food Bill will be a big game changer for Congress, because most states where the maximum poor live already run similar schemes. Besides, most of these states are not even run by the Congress and the chances of the Congress winning in those states are not high, he says.
He further adds, the government is unlikely to fall in the monsoon session unless something catastrophic happens. Because of the way JDU is, SP and BSP are positioned, all of them see BJP gaining ground. And hence, there is no incentive in blocking the boat now.
Gupta says, choice of Narendra Modi as PM candidate is setting the national political agenda. Because the UPA is getting everybody together out of fear of Modi becoming the next prime minister, which is a fear for many Indians as well and not just among the minority community.
Battle lines are now clearly drawn, BJP-NDA will make it seem like anybody but the Congress election, while Congress will make it seem like anybody but the Modi election, he says.
According to Gupta, the biggest negative for UPA has been undermining the office of the prime minister. Over the last 9.5 years, the UPA-government has systematically undermined the office, which represents the centre of gravity in Indian political system.