Congress steers clear of SP's mixed signals on voting on FDI in retail

Congress on Thursday steered clear of questions on Samajwadi Party's mixed signals on the issue of voting on FDI in retail in Parliament.

Parliamentary affairs minister Kamal Nath chose to ignore questions from reporters on the issue while at the AICC briefing, party spokesperson Rashid Alvi said Congres hopes that both in the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha the "majority" will support the stand taken by Congress on FDI.

"SP is supporting the government from outside. You ask this question to Samajwadi Party. They will answer it," he said when asked whether SP was playing a double game by taking conflicting stands on the issue.

A senior party leader, speaking on condition of anonymity, indicated Congress could reiterate its support to the proposal to provide quota in promotion in government jobs to keep BSP, which is keen for the passage of a bill in this regard, happy

The leader indicated the effort will be to bring the bill for passage during the on-going winter session.

"We and BSP both support the bill," the leader said adding even SP understands that the bill will sail through and its opposition aims at only sending a message to its voters.

Congress is hopeful BSP will vote for the government on FDI in both the houses if there is some forward movement on quota in promotion bill.