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In a setback to the National Democratic Alliance, two of its allies -- the Trinamul Congress and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, on Monday chose to be unenthusiastic about the controversial anti-terrorism bill, which is supposed to replace the Prevention of Terrorism (second) Ordinance.
Trinamul chief Mamata Banerjee said her party would abstain from voting on the crucial legislation. All Trinamul MPs were absent in the Lok Sabha during the debate on the bill.
"Though we are in the NDA, we are under no compulsion to support any anti-people move," Mamata said.
While the Trinamul has nine members in the Lok Sabha, the DMK has 12 in the lower house and nine in the upper house.
DMK member S S Palanimanickam, participating in the discussion, remained ambivalent whether his party would oppose or support the measure. He said there was no guarantee under the legislation that an individual would not be penalised wrongly.
PTI
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