No deal with Mayawati on FDI issue: Kamal Nath

The government on Thursday said there was no "deal" involved in getting BSP's support on the FDI in retail issue in Parliament.

"There was no deal between her (Mayawati) and the government," Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath said in 'Agenda - Aaj Tak' programme organised by the TV channel in response to a question on how he managed to convince Mayawati on the FDI issue.

Asked what political technique was used, he said, "There was no technique involved in it. Only there was a need to make one understand. We did that and she understood. Her understanding (capacity) is good."

He further said, "The debate is going on whether FDI in multi-brand retail will come or not. We decided to enable state governments to avail FDI. This cannot be decided in Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha. It has to be decided by state assemblies."

He said farm sector is facing a major challenge. "After paying all loans a farmer earns only Rs20,000. Unless he has more buying power it will not serve the purpose. Today fruits are rotting because unavailable of cold storage and rapid transport facility."

Linking GDP growth with common people's purchasing power, he said, "Majority of population is not bothered about the GDP growth but they are concerned about increase of their purchasing capacity. If our purchase power increases it will boost the GDP growth."

Recalling the early days, Nath said, "Earlier our economy was public sector driven, there was a licence raj. But now it has changed. Our manufacturing sector is mostly private sector driven and the centre's role has become an enabling one. Our textile sector is completely private sector driven."