New Delhi/Kolkata:
Sources have told NDTV that Trinamool Congress chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is likely to withdraw her ministers from the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre over the introduction of Foreign Direct Investment in multi-brand retail and hike in diesel prices. The Trinamool Congress is now likely to give only outside support to the ruling coalition, sources added.
A final decision is expected on Tuesday when Ms Banerjee meets with her party's top brass. The Trinamool Congress has six ministers at the Centre and 19 members in Parliament.
"We've placed our demand before the central government. Please roll back your decision, please change your decision, the decision related to diesel price, decision related to the LPG, decision related to FDI in retail. So we oppose and protest against all this kind of anti-people decisions, and we are meeting and we are going to meet under the leadership of Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday," Trinamool MP Kunal Ghosh told NDTV.
The Congress, however, remained unfazed. "We are confident that we will be able to resolve all issues through dialogue," said party spokesperson Rashid Alvi.
Ms Banerjee has rejected the Centre's decision to allow 51 per cent FDI in multi-brand retail, which would allow super-chains like WalMart to partner with a local company and sell directly to the Indian customer. She also wants the government to roll back a five-rupee increase in diesel prices and revoke the decision to limit to six the number of subsidised gas cylinders available to each household. The West Bengal Chief Minister had on Friday issued a 72-hour deadline to the government for the move to allow FDI in multi-brand retail to be rolled back.
Ms Banerjee's Facebook page says "loot cholchhe loot (Loot is going on)" and that she cannot accept reforms against the people's interest.
"We are not in favour of toppling the government. But they should not forget the 'Lakshman Rekha' of the alliance. We will not agree with any anti-people decisions. We have given 72-hour deadline to rethink... if you roll back, it's good. But if not, then be ready to face the consequences," she said at the rally yesterday organised to protest against the recent decisions announced by the government.
The new retail policy was cleared by the cabinet last November, but was abandoned after Ms Banerjee threatened to quit the UPA coalition. Since then, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has been criticised by industry and international media for ignoring the urgent need for reform despite a sagging economy and signals of foreign investors' concerns. Defending the FDI decisions, the PM had said yesterday that they were designed to improve the investment climate and bring in foreign investment to reduce debt. He also said that the hike in diesel prices effected on Thursday was "a step in the right direction."
Commerce Minister Anand Sharma has stressed that states have the right to reject the multi-brand reforms. "It is an enabling legislation," he said, adding that, "while we respect Mamata Banerjee's prerogative to implement or not implement...equally it is the prerogative of other states to have it," he said on Friday.
A final decision is expected on Tuesday when Ms Banerjee meets with her party's top brass. The Trinamool Congress has six ministers at the Centre and 19 members in Parliament.
"We've placed our demand before the central government. Please roll back your decision, please change your decision, the decision related to diesel price, decision related to the LPG, decision related to FDI in retail. So we oppose and protest against all this kind of anti-people decisions, and we are meeting and we are going to meet under the leadership of Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday," Trinamool MP Kunal Ghosh told NDTV.
The Congress, however, remained unfazed. "We are confident that we will be able to resolve all issues through dialogue," said party spokesperson Rashid Alvi.
Ms Banerjee has rejected the Centre's decision to allow 51 per cent FDI in multi-brand retail, which would allow super-chains like WalMart to partner with a local company and sell directly to the Indian customer. She also wants the government to roll back a five-rupee increase in diesel prices and revoke the decision to limit to six the number of subsidised gas cylinders available to each household. The West Bengal Chief Minister had on Friday issued a 72-hour deadline to the government for the move to allow FDI in multi-brand retail to be rolled back.
Ms Banerjee's Facebook page says "loot cholchhe loot (Loot is going on)" and that she cannot accept reforms against the people's interest.
"We are not in favour of toppling the government. But they should not forget the 'Lakshman Rekha' of the alliance. We will not agree with any anti-people decisions. We have given 72-hour deadline to rethink... if you roll back, it's good. But if not, then be ready to face the consequences," she said at the rally yesterday organised to protest against the recent decisions announced by the government.
The new retail policy was cleared by the cabinet last November, but was abandoned after Ms Banerjee threatened to quit the UPA coalition. Since then, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has been criticised by industry and international media for ignoring the urgent need for reform despite a sagging economy and signals of foreign investors' concerns. Defending the FDI decisions, the PM had said yesterday that they were designed to improve the investment climate and bring in foreign investment to reduce debt. He also said that the hike in diesel prices effected on Thursday was "a step in the right direction."
Commerce Minister Anand Sharma has stressed that states have the right to reject the multi-brand reforms. "It is an enabling legislation," he said, adding that, "while we respect Mamata Banerjee's prerogative to implement or not implement...equally it is the prerogative of other states to have it," he said on Friday.
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