New Delhi:
The government is searching desperately for an eject button from the current crisis over its decision to allow 51% Foreign Direct Investment or FDI in the multi-brand retail sector. Parliament was adjourned this morning over the matter - for the fifth day in this session, no business was transacted.
The core group of the Congress which includes the party's senior-most leaders including the Prime Minister and Sonia Gandhi met this evening to discuss their strategy ahead of an all-party meeting set for tomorrow morning.
Earlier in the day, reportedly at Mrs Sonia Gandhi's urging, Commerce Minister Anand Sharma sent a letter to the leaders of major political parties explaining why India is not risking the livelihoods of thousands of farmers and traders by signing off on a policy that will introduce giants like Walmart and Tesco to 53 Indian cities which have a population of at least 10 lakhs.
"In the absence of adequate cold chain infrastructure, logistics and transportation, our post-harvest losses remain unacceptably high...a complex chain of middlemen have a cascading impact on supply inefficiencies and prices as well. As a result, on the one hand farmers are unable to secure remunerative price for their produce, while consumer ends up paying more than 5 times the price secured by the farmers," Mr Sharma said in his note that was circulated to leaders like Sushma Swaraj of the BJP. "We have also stipulated mandatory 30% sourcing from small industry, which will encourage local value addition and manufacturing," Mr Sharma added.
And in what could be an attempt to cajole allies like Mamata Banerjee, the government stressed in a different clarification, "India has a federal structure of government. The FDI policy is an enabling framework and it remains the prerogative of the states to adopt it."
(Read the full letter) The government's attempts at make-nice come after virtually every major political party expressed its anger over the FDI decision. The Left and the BJP have insisted that the policy be discussed in Parliament under an adjournment motion- which means a debate will end with a vote. The government has rejected this - it wants a debate, but no vote. "Rollback FDI in retail and (you can) run the House," BJP's Sushma Swaraj and Leader of Opposition told the Government this afternoon.
Most worrying for the government are the sharp reprimands that have been served by its biggest allies - M Karunanidhi and Mamata Banerjee, who have both asked the government to reverse its decision on the grounds that it will hurt farmers and traders. The Trinamool Congress (TMC) which is headed by Ms Banerjee today sought a rollback of the Centre's decision, arguing that there would be no embarrassment if the withdrawal was in the interests of workers and farmers. It also expressed its strong displeasure about not being consulted over the move. "There is no system in UPA 2 to discuss moves before they are made", party leader Sudip Bandopadhyay said, repeating an accusation that the TMC voiced just a few weeks ago, when the government raised petrol prices. "
"Five crore people in Bengal are engaged in retail and farming. They have to be protected. I am against FDI," Ms Banerjee said today.
Mr Karunanidhi, also a senior member of the UPA with 16 Lok Sabha MPs, also put the government on notice. "It's dangerous to allow FDI in retail trade as it affects lot of small traders as well as middle-class consumers. It will also be a cause for economic decline of our country. The DMK has sounded a note of warning in this regard in the parliament," said Mr Karunanidhi.
(Read: Karunanidhi's entire statement opposing FDI in multi-brand retail)The government faces more opposition from within in Kerala where the Congress party's branch has expressed its dissent. And two senior Union ministers from the Congress - Vayalar Ravi and TK Thomas - acknowledged that they had shared reservations about allowing FDI in the multi-brand sector in the cabinet meeting which eventually cleared the proposal.
Sharad Yadav of the Janata Dal (United) (JDU) says he will ensure Parliament does not function till the government withdraws its decision to allow 51% FDI in the multi-brand retail sector, a move that would allow giants like Walmart and Tesco to set up shop in India.
An adjournment motion allows a member of the House to ask that regular business be suspended to discuss an urgent matter of public interest. It includes a debate and ends with a vote that tests the government's strength. The opposition's insistence on a vote is seen as a pressure tactic - what it really wants is for the government to put its decisions on retail on hold till the matter is extensively debated in Parliament.
In the Rajya Sabha, Jayalalithaa's party, the AIADMK, moved a notice for an adjournment motion. Senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi had planned a similar course of action for the Lok Sabha.
And Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi confirmed his presence on a long list of chief ministers who are fighting the government over FDI in the multi-brand sector on the grounds that it will wipe out lakhs of small mom-and-pop stores. "My stand is the same as that of my party BJP & which is in the interest of the nation," Mr Modi tweeted this morning.
The government has to find an emergency exit so that important legislation that is pending can be considered by Parliament. Headlining this list is the Lokpal Bill which sanctions a new independent agency to investigate complaints of corruption against government servants. Anti-graft crusader Anna Hazare had warned that he would begin a new mass protest in Delhi if the Lokpal Bill was not passed in this winter session of parliament. He will hold a day-long rally at the Jantar Mantar in the national capital on December 11, his close aide Arvind Kejriwal told NDTV today.