The meeting is being held at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s residence. Among others, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Commerce Minister Anand Sharma, Home Minister P Chidambaram and Congress chief’s political secretary Ahmed Patel are attending the meeting.
That meeting is being held hours after Sonia Gandhi this morning chaired a meeting of Congress’ parliamentary party to discuss the issue. That meeting was attended by all top Congress leaders and its ministers in the UPA government.
At the meeting, Pranab Mukherjee apprised Congress MPs of the government’s stand on the issue. He said that FDI in retail will help bring inflation.
Also, Commerce Minister Anand Sharma will brief Congress MPs on the issue tomorrow.
Sonia is reportedly upset over the continuing deadlock over the retail FDI issue, which has been disrupting the proceedings inside the Parliament.
With the Prime Minister ruling out a roll back and the Opposition not willing to lower its stand the issue, the Congress finds itself in a fix and is now seeking the bipartisan support of rival parties and its key allies.
A section of Congress leaders including Chennithala and Sanjay Singh are firmly opposed to allowing FDI in the retail sector as they term it as anti-farmer move, anti-people move.
In a bid to end the deadlock, the government is reportedly mulling to suspend the decision for some time and reduce the extent to which foreign direct investment should be allowed in the retail sector to appease the opposition, which is showing a rare unity on the issue.
Today’s parleys also hold significance as PM Singh yesterday defended the government’s decision to open the retail sector and ruled out a roll back in this regard.
Addressing the national convention of the Congress party’s youth wing, the Prime Minister said that it will create employment opportunities and benefit the country’s economy in the long run.
Singh said, “The present deadlock over the government’s decision to allow FDI in the retail sector is hampering important business in Parliament. We have not taken this decision in haste. It is, in fact, a well calculated decision, which will boost productivity and employment.”
Defending the Cabinet’s decision, Singh said, “It will certainly benefit the economy in the long run.”
Allaying fears that the entry of corporate retail giants will destroy the domestic retail market, the Prime Minister said, “Small retailers need not worry about the entry of global corporate big-wigs since we have also imposed certain safeguards to protect the interest of small retailers at home.”
“After a careful analysis of the retail sector in foreign markets, we are hopeful that both small and big retailers will flourish and prosper at the same time if FDI is allowed in this sector, which will bring latest technology and improve the agriculture sector.”
Making a fresh appeal to the Opposition, Singh said, “All issues of conflicts should be resolved through discussion in Parliament but by stalling the proceedings inside the House, our opponents are cheating the people of India.”
However, he expressed hope that the present impasse will be resolved soon.
Manmohan Singh’s statement holds significance as the all-party meeting convened yesterday ended inconclusively with both the government and the Opposition failing to reach a consensus over the issue.
During the meeting, the Opposition demanded an immediate roll back of the government’s decision on allowing 51% FDI in retail sector and threatened to disrupt the proceedings inside Parliament till the government gives an assurance in this regard.
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