Chennai:
The Prime Minister and Sonia Gandhi are expected to address public rallies to explain the need for the controversial reforms introduced last month. Some private counselling sessions may be needed with allies as well - the DMK, which is now the second-largest member of the ruling coalition, today said that it will support any resolution in parliament that opposes the liberalisation of the retail sector.
(Read: PM, Sonia to address rallies explaining FDI)The move to allow foreign direct investment or FDI in multi-brand retail saw Mamata Banerjee and her Trinamool Congress exiting Dr Manomhan Singh's government reducing it to a minority. Ms Banerjee held a large protest in Delhi today to counter the "anti-people" measures that the government has announced- allowing foreign mega-chains like Wal-Mart to sell directly to Indian customers, increasing diesel prices by 14%, and restricting every household to six subsidised cylinders of cooking gas every year.
(Live Updates: Mamata brings reforms war to Delhi) Over the weekend, Dr Singh said that reforms are " not a one-off measure" and that he is confident his allies will support his economic agenda.
But at a meeting last week of senior UPA leaders, that was not the prevalent opinion.TR Baalu of the DMK said that while reforms may be important, they don't win elections. Other allies- like Sharad Pawar who is chief of the NCP - asked for an increase in the number of subsidised gas cylinders available to every household.
Ms Banerjee's Trinamool Congress has 19 Lok Sabha MPs. After she quit the UPA, the DMK with 18 MPs is the Dr Singh's heftiest ally. The party has already participated last month in a nationwide strike against FDI in retail.
Opening up the retail sector to foreign investors is an executive decision - the government doesn't need the approval of parliament. The cabinet had cleared the reform last year, but shelved it when Ms Banerjee threatened to opt out of the UPA. In November last year, then Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had promised that the government would seek consensus on the contentious issue. Parties like the BJP and the Trinamool say the government has betrayed that assurance, and therefore they want a resolution on the sense of the house - an official documentation of the opposition within parliament to the new policy. Ms Banerjee has said that a minority government does not have the right to introduce sweeping changes.