While the government found itself in a tight spot on Monday over its controversial move to allow 51 per cent foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail, with the NDA, Left parties and even some UPA constituents like the Trinamul Congress and DMK demanding a rollback, the Congress stuck to its
guns. The FDI issue rocked both Houses of Parliament and led to adjournments, without any substantive business transacted.
In a bid to break the logjam, Leader of the Lok Sabha Pranab Mukherjee has called a meeting of floor leaders of all political parties on Tuesday to explain the benefits of the decision to them.
The DMK, which joined Trinamul in opposing the decision, said allowing FDI in retail was “dangerous” as it would affect lakhs of small traders and poor and middle class consumers. Both parties, each of which has 18 MPs in the Lok Sabha, sought an immediate rollback.
Prime Minister Manm-ohan Singh, who met Congress president Sonia Gandhi in the afternoon, held parleys with the party’s core group members, including senior ministers Pranab Mukherjee, P. Chidambaram, A.K. Antony and commerce minister Anand Sharma in the evening to decide on the government’s strategy.
Sources privy to the core group’s deliberations said the Congress was “firm” on the FDI issue. “The government has taken a considered decision, so there is no question of a rollback on the issue,” a source said.
Earlier in Parliament, speaking to reporters, parliamentary affairs minister Pawan Kumar Bansal had scoffed at rumours that the FDI decision would be put on hold, saying the government was convinced the FDI decision was in the larger national interest and would benefit every section of society.