Mamata, Karunanidhi come down heavily on govt; Pranab to meet floor leaders of all parties
Prime minister Manmohan Singh is firm on having 51% Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the retail sector. And his decision has left opposition parties as well as UPA allies fuming.
While the BJP and the Left severely criticised the government's decision, coalition allies - the Trinamool Congress and the DMK - too called for a rollback. The two allies, with 18 MPs each, constitute the largest groups after Congress, which heads the UPA coalition.
"It is dangerous to allow FDI in retail sector as it would affect lakhs of small traders, poor and middle-class consumers," DMK chief M Karunanidhi said in Chennai.
Trinamool chief and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee said in Kolkata that small traders would be the worst hit. "Their livelihood would be affected," she said. "So, we will not allow FDI in Bengal."
Earlier in the day, both houses of Parliament were stalled following protests. Both the BJP and the Left moved adjournment motions against the government. "Roll back FDI in retail and [you can] run the House," BJP's Sushma Swaraj, leader of Opposition, said.
Though it is doubtful if Parliament would run smoothly today or in the coming days, the Congress seems to have made up its mind on going ahead with 51% FDI. Parliamentary affairs minister PK Bansal said it was not the first time that the opposition had stalled parliamentary proceedings.
"There is also no guarantee that they would let things run smoothly even if we were to change our stand," he said.
The government, mainly the Congress, maintained that it was ready for a debate on the issue but it would not accept any move that could stop the economy from opening up.
The government, however, has tried to reach out to the opposition. It has entrusted Pranab Mukherjee, the veteran crisis manager, with the job of breaking the deadlock. Mukherjee, leader of the Lok Sabha and finance minister, will hold a meeting with the floor leaders of all parties today. In fact, a source said Swaraj was keen on an all-party meeting on Monday. But the government did not agree as Mukherjee was unavailable.
"The government is convinced that allowing FDI would benefit the country," Bansal said. "The meeting will try to bridge the communication gap between the government and opposition parties and clear misconceptions regarding FDI."
Left leaders like Sitaram Yechury of the CPI(M) said discussions were meaningless when the government has already taken a decision. "The government is trying to stall proceedings on pending subjects such as Lokpal and inflation," he said. "Instead of discussing the matter in Parliament, the government gave advertisements in newspapers justifying the FDI liberalisation."
Swaraj said that the BJP endorsed the Left view. "This might just be a government tactic to stall Parliament so that important matters are not taken up for discussion," she said.
But Bansal said the government consults political parties only on matters of legislation. "This is an executive decision. But the opposition has decided to stall Parliament on every matter," he said. "If it is price rise one day, it is FDI another day. Tomorrow they might come up with something new. The government is not so weak that it has to buckle under the pressure."
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