Congress-led UPA government’s emissary Gh-ulam Nabi Azad did not seem to have succeeded in eliciting a positive assurance from DMK chief M. Karunanidhi on tackling the Opposition parties on the FDI issue when he called on him here on Sunday. Mr Kar-unanidhi clearly conveyed to the Centre, that a meeting of like-minded parties ought to be convened to discuss the issue. The Congress ally in the UPA government, DMK, may have found it opportune to dig in its toes on FDI in multi-brand retail given the way the 2G issue is poised and with two of its leaders caught in the pincer.
Emerging from the meeting, the senior Congress leader admitted, “I must be candid enough to say that he (Karunanidhi) has a lot of reservations about FDI in retail sector.” Explaining about the meeting that lasted nearly 90 minutes, Mr Azad said, “The important issue we discussed was about voting, if any, and whenever it takes place in Parliament, and to obtain Mr Karunanidhi’s views on the issue.” Regarding the DMK chief’s reservations, “…I told him in so many clear words not to worry. He suggested that he would like to have one more meeting with like-minded parties so that they could express their views on the subject,” Mr Azad, Union health and family welfare minister, told reporters.
He had informed Mr Karunanidhi that when FDI was cleared by the Centre, there were apprehensions among state governments and political parties, including the DMK. He assured the DMK leadership that the Centre “will not force the DMK or any government to implement FDI in states against their wishes”.
Mr Azad had assured Mr Karunanidhi that “we will have another meeting of alliance parties within a day or two so that they can express their views”.
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Name shows lack of ideas: diggy
Bhubaneswar, Nov. 25: All-India Congress Comm-ittee general secretary Digvijay Singh on Sunday accused Arvind Kejriwal of “hijacking” the Congress theme of aam aadmi, reports our correspondent.
He said that by naming his new political platform as “Aam Aadmi Party,” the Right to Information (RTI) activist-turned politician, Mr Arvind Kejriwal, had exposed his “bankruptcy of ideas and concepts”.