Ignored for U’khand CM, Rawat resigned as minister

Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Harish Rawat is reported to have resigned from the post after the Congress high command on Monday named Vijay Bahaguna as the next Uttarakhand chief minister.

Reports said Rawat has sent his resignation to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

Rawat was quoted as saying today that it was difficult to work under the current circumstances.

Also, there are fears of Uttarakhand Congress breaking up as with 16 MLAs supporting Rawat reported to be mulling quitting the national party and floating a new political party. The MLAs are likely to meet the state Governor later today.

Rawat was the frontrunner to head the Congress-led coalition in Uttarakhand after the recent Assembly polls. However, the naming of Bahuguna as brought the factional feud to the fore.

Raising slogans, angry supporters of Rawat, who gathered at his house here Monday night, wanted to know why he was ignored for the top slot and egged him to split the party.

In a bid to placate a sulking Rawat, Bahuguna, his sister and UPCC chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi met the Union minister at his residence.

Emerging from the meeting, Rawat had said, "I am a Congressman, thorough and thorough".

Asked what transpired at the meeting with the brother-sister duo, Rawat said, "They had come to console a loser".

Replying to a question as to how many MLAs backed him, Rawat declined to specify the number and merely said, "All of them are Sonia Gandhi's MLAs. They came to console me and I also consoled them. I'm a loser."

Asked if he would boycott Tuesday’s swearing-in ceremony of Bahuguna as Chief Minister, Rawat said, "I have a sore throat and am not keeping well. Let's see."

Sonia Gandhi, who was authorised by party MLAs to take a decision in the matter, chose Bahuguna after taking the views of party MPs and MLAs.

The choice of Bahuguna, a cousin of outgoing BJP chief minister BC Khanduri, was made by Gandhi after the party high command had grappled with the issue for days amid diverse pulls and pressures created by several claimants to the top post and demand by independent MLAs whose support is crucial to Congress' securing majority and formation of government.

Bahuguna would be sworn in as new chief minister of Uttarkahand at a function in Dehradun this evening. Governor Margaret Alva would administer the oath to 65-year-old Bahuguna.

Mulayam may support Congress to oust BJP

Samajwadi Party (SP) supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav today said that he is willing to support the Congress in Uttar Pradesh after polls if he sees the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) coming to power.

"There is a wave in favour of SP, which is going to form the next government in the state...If I see BJP coming to power, our party can support Congress in the state to prevent communal forces," Mr Yadav told an election rally at Hamirpur.

The Congress, though, appeared lukewarm in its response to the SP's offer. The question is "premature and unnecessary at this point of time", party spokesperson Renuka Chowdhury told reporters in reply to a volley of questions on the issue at the AICC briefing here.

Noting that the Congress' attitude on the issue was going to be "wait and watch", she said that "there has been no pre-poll pact between Congress and the Samajwadi Party. We have not arrived at post poll scenario as yet. We still have most phases of the polling left."

"I have no authority to rule it in or rule it out", she said but insisted that party leaders including Sonia Gandhi have made the party's stand against any alliance clear.

On whether Mr Yadav's offer was a virtual admission that his party was not getting majority on its own, she said it seems so.

The Congress is keeping its cards close to its chest on the issue of alliances in UP as it does not want to give an impression that it is a 'B team' of any other party.

Asked by a reporter if the Congress would like to go with Mulayam or Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati in the post-poll scenario, Chowdhury sarcastically replied, "When the time will come, the party will consult you."

Battle for UP : Maya, Sonia cross swords

A week before polling begins in Uttar Pradesh, the battle reached a feverish pitch Wednesday as Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and BSP leader Mayawati crossed swords, calling themselves the saviour of India's most populous state.

Addressing major public rallies in UP where balloting will be staggered Feb 8 to March 3, Mayawati accused the central government of starving the state of development funds. Gandhi asserted that Rs.100,000 crore given to the state did not reach the poor and linked Mayawati to corruption.

In Sitapur, a Dalit citadel, an upbeat Mayawati pointed to the large crowds that had gathered to listen to her as a sign of her invincibility. She claimed that her government had done more work in the past five years than any other government since India's independence.

Asked if she was confident of winning, Mayawati said: "You can judge seeing the crowds."

Pitching for an inclusive growth in the state which sends 80 MPs to the Lok Sabha, Mayawati, the first Dalit chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, said: "There is need to ensure progress of all communities. Only the BSP can ensure that.

"The centre did not cooperate with us fully," she charged.

Holding her first rally in UP, Gandhi slammed the Mayawati government for "inefficient implementation of centrally funded programmes" and questioned the Dalit leader's motives behind dismissing 21 of her ministers on the eve of elections.

Speaking in Gonda town, Gandhi said though the UPA government provided Rs.100,000 crore in developmental funds to Uttar Pradesh in recent years, it had not reached the poor because of an "inept" state administration.

Asking people to vote for the Congress, Gandhi said: ""Then, we will have a government of the common people and the poor.

"The present chief minister dismissed 21 of her ministers on election eve. She was not able to see their corruption in the past five years. I want to ask whether taking resignations has made her government clean? Is this not (a case of) cheating the people?"

Gandhi charged non-Congress governments of ruining the state since the Congress has been out of power in 1989.

"These parties have done nothing for the state. They have filled their own pockets," she said.

The Congress has shown signs of revival in the state.

The Congress won only 22 seats in the 403-member state assembly in 2007. But it swept 22 of the Lok Sabha 80 seats in 2009, finishing second among four major parties and stunning foes and friends alike.

congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi and RLD chief Ajit Singh will address a joint rally at Meerut in western Uttar Pradesh Thursday.

PM Manmohan Singh to campaign in Punjab, Sonia in Uttarakhand

With the poll date approaching, the Congress is reaching out to the electorate in poll-bound states in a big way.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will address poll rallies in Amritsar and Ludhiana on today. Punjab goes to polls on January 30. The Congress under former chief minister Amridner Singh is looking to wrest power from the Parkash Singh Badal headed SAD-BJP combine.

Interestingly, the Prime Minister had begun his New Year from Amritsar, when he along with his wife Gursharan Kaur paid obeisance at the Golden Temple on January one.

Meanwhile, party president Sonia Gandhi is concentrating on Uttarakhand where the Congress hopes to unseat the BJP government led by BC Khanduri. She will address a rally in Almoda today; last week she had campaigned in Roorkee.

On the other hand, Rahul Gandhi is continuing with his ‘Mission UP’. He would be campaigning in the Bundelkhnad region today.

Ramdev’s supporter threw black ink on Sonia's image

Angry over the attack on Yoga guru Baba Ramdev, his followers on Monday threw black ink on Sonia Gandhi's poster outside the Congress headquarters here and clashed with party workers, earning disapproval of the yoga guru who condemned the act as "undemocratic and uncivilised".

Some people under the banner of Yuva Bharat Kisan Panchayat gathered outside the Congress headquarters at 24, Akbar Road to protest the throwing of ink on the yoga guru here two days ago.

They shouted slogans against party chief Sonia Gandhi and leaders Rahul Gandhi and Digvijay Singh and said they will not allow anyone to defame religious leaders. Some of them later threw black ink on a poster with Sonia's image.

The incident occurred at around 4:45 pm.

Soon a clash occurred between the supporters of the Baba and the Congress workers and ticket seekers who were at the Congress. The man who had defaced the poster of the Congress president was badly beaten up. The police then intervened and brought the situation under control.

Following the incident, more police personnel were rushed to the spot which is next to Sonia's residence at 10, Janpath.

Police said Narendra from Kanjhawala and Tribhuwan from Mehrauli were detained in connection with the incident.

A case under Section 153 of IPC (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc) was registered.

Meanwhile, soon after the incident, Ramdev's spokesperson said the yoga guru termed the act as ‘undemocratic and uncivilised’.

"Such undemocratic and uncivilised methods of protest should not be encouraged. Such acts have no place in our rich culture and philosophy," Ramdev was quoted as saying.

"We neither support such undemocratic and uncivilised act nor are part of it," the spokesperson said adding Ramdev was against any kind of violent or indecent methods of protest against anyone and urged people not to indulge in or promote such "indecent and ugly acts."

On January 14 a man had thrown black ink Yoga guru Baba Ramdev’s face. The man was nabbed by Ramdev’s supporters and badly beaten up before being handed over to the police. Ramdev was talking about his future moves against corruption and black money at the press conference held at the Constitutional Club in the heart of the capital.

Ramdev's right eye was blackened with ink by the man identified as Kamran Siddiqui, a resident of Delhi who is said to be running an NGO 'Real Cause' which is a petitioner in the Batla House encounter case.

Jaideep, Ramdev's close aide, claimed that Siddiqui had gained entry into the hall carrying a walkie talkie apparently posing as a security personnel. He also claimed that a bottle of acid was recovered from Siddiqui.

Ramdev, who immediately left the venue after the incident, said he had asked for the black money being returned to the country and instead got black ink.

Before the incident, Siddiqui had sought Ramdev's opinion on the 2008 Batla House encounter in which suspects of the Delhi serial blasts were killed.

The yoga guru had ignored the question and soon after the attack took place.

Anna Hazare ends fast, cancels jail bharo campaign

Smarting under poor response and bad health, Anna Hazare called off his fast a day ahead of schedule and repeated his threat to campaign against Congress in the five poll-bound states for not brining a strong Lokpal.

The 74-year-old activist made the surprise announcement midway through his three-day fast at MMRDA grounds which reported poor attendance of people for the second continous day, in stark contrast the mass swelling in Delhi earlier this year during his three fasts.

Hazare did not make any reference to the earlier plans of coming to Delhi for a dharna of the residence of Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi and about the jail bharo agitation (filling up of jails) after that.

"...Whatever we are seeing today in Parliament is tragic. So I have decided to call off the fast today. There is only one way now. We will make a programme in the five states and go and awaken people there. I will tell them don't vote for traitors," he told a sparsely attended protest meeting in the afternoon.

"Now two years are left for the general elections. In between, I will go to various parts of the country and keep awakening the people till next general elections," he said.

The ending of the fast by Hazare, who was having fever of 100 degree F, came doctors advised him to call off his protest saying continuing it will lead to kidney failure.

Hazare said he was already fasting four days before the start of the protest strike yesterday here.

Team Anna member Arvind Kejriwal replying to questions from media also said that they have withdrawn the proposed jail bharo campaign for the time being, but will campaign against the Congress in the forthcoming assembly elections in 5 states.

Sonia Blames BJP For Defeat Of Constitution Bill

Hitting hard at the BJP for having backtracked after supporting constitutional status for Lokpal in the Standing Committee, Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Wednesday, said that the real face of the BJP has come to the fore.

Reiterating Congress remains committed to a strong Lokpal, Sonia said, “I am very happy that an effective Lokpal Bill has been passed.”

However, she pointed fingers at the BJP saying that it was only because of the BJP that the government could not ensure constitutional status for the Ombudsman.

“The strength we wanted to give to the Lokpal…they did not want it. The BJP had committed to constitutional status for Lokpal in the standing committee but later they withdrew the support,” Sonia said.

Sonia Gandhi’s comments came after high-drama in the Parliament yesterday night which saw the government’s proposal to grant constitutional status to Lokapl being voted out by the Lok Sabha.

The Constitution (116th Amendment) Bill was defeated in the Lok Sabha by a determined Opposition, helped by the absence of parties supporting the government from outside like SP, BSP and RJD.

Samajwadi Party (22), BSP (16) and RJD (4), which support the UPA government from outside staged a walkout, bringing the numbers down for the government.

A Constitution Amendment Bill to be passed should have more than 50 per cent of the members of the House present and of them, two-third support is mandatory.

Adding to government’s troubles, around 15 Congress MPs were also absent at the time of voting, leading to a situation where the government could not muster even simple majority of 273 votes in favour as it managed only 250 votes on the crucial legislation.

The Congress has reasons to feel embarrassed, especially because it was Rahul Gandhi's idea of conferring Constitutional status to Lokpal.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had yesterday night expressed disappointment over the failure. "This is a bit of disappointment that it could not be passed," he said after the embarrassment faced by the government in the House.

Leader of the House Pranab Mukherjee told the BJP-led Opposition, “It is a sad day for democracy, it is a sad for the institution. People will teach you a lesson."

On the other hand, the BJP had demanded resignation of the UPA government on moral grounds after it failed to get the Constitution Amendment Bill passed in the Lok Sabha.

“Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has no moral right to continue in office," BJP leader Yashwant Sinha told reporters after the embarassing development for the government.

"Rahul Gandhi's dream has been shattered. This shows the monumental inefficiency of this government,” he added.

Anna challenges 'Jail bharo’ protest will outside Sonia’s residence

Unhappy with government’s version of Lokpal draft, anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare on Thursday said that the bill was a betrayal and a cruel joke.

Challenging Congress president Sonia Gandhi to debate government’s Lokpal Bill in public Anna said, “If Soniaji thinks government’s version of draft is strong then she should come in public and have an open debate with Team Anna in presence of media.”

“Let them explain it to the nation how their bill is strong and we will tell them how their version of Lokpal Bill is weak,” Anna added.

Hazare's remarks came as a response to Gandhi's speech at Congress Parliamentary Party meeting yesterday during which she said the proposed legislation was strong and she was ready for a fight for it.

He said he would go on a three-day hunger strike from Dec 27-29 and would launch "jail bharo" struggle. "My jail bharo protest will be outside the residence of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi," the 74-year-old activist said.

Hitting out at the government, Anna said that the draft makes it difficult for common man to fight corruption.

He said putting CBI out of Lokpal shows how the bill will be "useless".

"The biggest victims of corruption are the poor who have to pay bribes to get any work done. How will the common man live like this? Out demand is that lower bureaucracy be brought under Lokpal," he said.

But, Hazare said the lower bureaucracy is being brought under Central Vigilance Commission which is under the control of government.

"How will the common man get justice. Lower bureaucracy and CBI should be under Lokpal. Only then the bill will be in right form," he said.

Criticising the Grievance Redressal Bill, Hazare said the government does not have the intent to help people fight corruption.

"If a citizen has a complaint regarding a passport, he will have to go to grievance redressal officer. If he is not satisfied, he can approach the senior officer. If he does not get justice then he has to go state level and central level commissions.

"For just a passport, why would anyone take these many rounds of government offices," he said.

Lokpal Bill in Lok Sabha today

The much-awaited Lokpal Bill will be introduced in the Lok Sabha on Today and the anti-graft legislation will be discussed during Parliament's extended session on December 27.

Although, the bill has solid backing of UPA chairperson and Congress president Sonia Gandhi, threat of a fast by noted social worker Anna Hazare also looms large on it.

The session, originally scheduled to end on December 22, will now reconvene on December 27-29 to discuss the bill.

However, the Samajwadi Party and the Rashtriya Janata Dal, two parties supporting the ruling UPA from outside, have struck a discordant note, saying the bill would make the local police very powerful.

Meanwhile, Anna, who has already threatened to go on a three-day fast, has rejected the bill as a betrayal of the people and said the legislation would not provide for a strong anti-graft institution.

"People will teach a lesson to this government one day," Anna said yesterday in his Ralegan-Siddhi village in Maharashtra.

He wondered how the proposed bill could be described as strong when the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) was being kept outside the ombudsman's ambit.

Taking on Anna, United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi also said that there was a "deliberate and malicious misinformation" campaign that the Congress was not tackling corruption.

She listed bills on protection of whistleblowers, enhancing judicial accountability, the citizens right to grievance redressal, and the Lokpal bill which will be taken up for discussion from December 27-29.

Stating "she was ready to fight for the anti-graft Lokpal and women's reservation bills in the Lok Sabha" Gandhi dismissed as "rumours" that there were differences between the government and the ruling party.

She urged Congress MPs to be prepared for the battle in the house.

Describing the Lokpal bill as a "pathbreaking" legislation, the UPA chairperson urged the opposition parties and anti-corruption activist Hazare to accept it.

"They must accept it. I am always ready for a fight," said Gandhi.

The government draft bill brings the Prime Minister under Lokpal but leaves out two other key demands of the activist for inclusion of the CBI and the lower bureaucracy.

Interestingly, while MoS Narayanasamy said the "only opposition to the bill was from Anna" both Samajwadi Party and Rashtriya Janata Dal opposed the legislation.

RJD chief Lalu Prasad joined SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav in saying there should be "consensus" before the bill is brought to Parliament and a decision on such a major issue could not be taken without giving it a thought. The SP has 22 MPs while the RJD has four MPs.

However, the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said it will not comment on the bill until the final draft is circulated among MPs.

The remark came a day after several BJP leaders said they will protest the bill and called it "cheating the people."

"Even a full stop or a comma changes the meaning of a sentence... we will see the bill and only then give any comment," BJP leader SS Ahluwalia said.

The BJP said it wants the dissent note on the bill, given by its members who were on the Parliamentary Standing Committee, included.

Earlier in the day, senior BJP leader LK Advani along with Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj and her Rajya Sabha counterpart Arun Jaitley met Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee to discuss the bill.

Sonia Gandhi: Anna should accept ‘our strong Lokpal’

Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday told party MPs that Congress was ready to fight for lokpal and women's bill, reports said. The opposition and Team Anna should accept the government's draft bill, she added.

Congress has fulfilled its poll promises on food security and Lokpal, Sonia Gandhi said.

BJP is yet to reconcile to fact that UPA has got people's confidence and is spreading canards about differences between Congress and government, she said.

Gandhi interacted with party MPs on Wednesday amid challenges galore for the party and the government in the New Year.

Not yielding to Anna Hazare's demands, the government is understood to have decided to keep CBI out of the purview of the proposed Lokpal. The CBI itself had said that it does not want to come under the purview of the Lokpal. To bring the investigating agency under Lokpal’s ambit, amendments will be needed for which the government is not ready, as is being said.

The Congress Parliamentary Party meeting on Wednesday morning was the first such meeting to be addressed by Gandhi in the last few months as the Congress President had skipped the monsoon session in July-August on account of being ill.

Gandhi, who is also UPA chairperson, had gone abroad for surgery for an unspecified ailment at that time.

The CPP meeting is also being held at a time when the lokpal bill is being debated intensely.

She asked the MPs to work hard, expressing hope that the Congress will win the upcoming Assembly polls in five states.

Union Cabinet clears food security bill

The government today cleared the Food Security Bill that seeks to give legal entitlement of cheaper food to over 63 per cent of the population that will cost an additonal subsidy of Rs 27,663 crore.

According to estimates, the implementation of this would result in higher food subsidy by Rs 27,663 crore taking the overall figure to about Rs 95,000 crore.

The Bill, considered to be the pet project of UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, was announced in the election manifesto of the Congress Party in 2009 general elections.

Since September, 2009 the empowered Group of Ministers, headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, has been deliberating on it.

The government would require 61 million tonnes of foodgrains to provide food security as against 55 million tonnes required now under the PDS.

Besides cheap foodgrains to the poor, the Bill also seeks to provide minimum three kg of foodgrains per month per person under general household category at rate not exceeding 50 percent of the Minimum Support Price.

The government has also made a special for pregnant women and lactating mothers, children, destitutes, homeless and people under starvation among others.

In rural India, up to 75 percent of the people will be covered, with at least 46 percent under priority households (which is same as below poverty line families in the existing public distribution system).
    
Up to 50 percent of people will be covered in the urban centres, with at least 28 percent under priority category.  Talking to reporters after the meeting, Thomas said it has been decided to introduce the Bill in this session.

"It was discussed and approved unanimously. Whatever, we had proposed has been approved," he said.

Prices of subsidised foodgrains are much lower than the rate at which these are currently supplied to poor through ration shops.

Under present PDS, 35 kgs of wheat and rice per month per family is supplied to 6.52 crore BPL families at Rs 4.15 and Rs 5.65/kg, respectively.

General category would get at least 3 kg of grains at a rate not exceeding 50 percent of the minimum support price.

At present, about 11.5 crore APL families get at least 15 kg of wheat and rice per month at Rs 6.10 and Rs 8.30/kg, respectively.

Thomas had said yesterday that the total financial liability to implement the law would be Rs 3.5 lakh crore, as funds would be required to raise agriculture production, create storage space and publicity among others.


The NAC had recommended legal entitlement to subsidized foodgrains to both priority and general households, covering at least 75 percent population. However, the PMEAC had opined that this was not feasible.


The objective of the proposed law is "to provide for food and nutritional security...by ensuring access to adequate quantity of quality food at affordable prices, for people to live a life with dignity".

Going by the stated objective, there is a provision of meals to special group such as destitutes, homeless, person living in starvation and disaster affected persons.

That apart, there is a great focus on nutritional support to women and children in the bill.

"Pregnant women and lactating mothers, besides being entitled to nutritious meals, will also receive maternity benefit at Rs 1,000 per month for six months," Thomas had said, adding that children up to eighth class would get meals.

Aiming to empower women, the bill proposes to issue ration card to the eldest female member of the family.

Among the other key provisions, the bill stipulates that the Centre would reimburse in cash in case of short supply of foodgrains to States because of fall in production on account of natural calamities such as drought and floods.

In case of non-supply of foodgrains or meals to entitled person, the concerned State would be required to provide 'food security allowance'.

The bill provides for penalty up to Rs 5,000 to be imposed on public servants or authority by the National and State Food Commissions if found guilty of non-compliance with the relief recommended by DGRO.

Congress core group meets on FDI issue

Amid the continuing logjam over allowing FDI in retail, the Congress core committee is meeting here right now to discuss the issue.

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.