Both the BJP and the Left said Tuesday that the question of Parliament’s functioning depended on the government’s stand on the FDI issue.
The Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Mr Arun Jaitley, said the BJP
was always been in favour of reforms if these were for the welfare of the people. But, he added, allowing 51 per cent FDI in multi-brand retail was not such a case. “All changes are not reforms. Some take us backwards,” he said.
Saying Parliament’s smooth functioning depended on the government’s stand, CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat said his party will be satisfied only with a “complete” rollback and not “abeyance” of the decision. Mr Karat suggested the government wanted to put the FDI decision on hold till the end of the Winter Session, saying it was “mistaken” if it thought the policy could be implemented after that. “We want a complete cancellation of the policy. We are totally opposed to it. If the government thinks it can manoeuvre and bring this back, they are mistaken. We will unite with all other forces opposed to it,” Mr Karat said.
JD(U) president Sharad Yadav indicated he would work toward finding a meeting point between the Opposition and the government on the issue.
“There is an all-party meeting on the FDI issue. My effort is that Parliament should now function after days of disruption,” he said.