NEW DELHI, Dec 5 � In a bid to buy peace in Parliament, the Government today said a final decision on the FDI issue will be taken only after consulting stakeholders and the opposition which insisted on a complete rollback and just holdback, reports PTI.
With the Government in a bind and Parliament paralysed for nearly two weeks, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee today spoke to Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj and CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury and informed them that the government is willing to hold back the decision to allow 51 per cent FDI in multi-brand retail.
Both Swaraj and Yechury suggested that Government convene an all-party meeting to convey its decision and then inform Parliament.
�I told Pranabda that he should pick up the threads where they were left the last time. Since he had promised to get back to the opposition in the last all-party meeting, a similar meeting should be convened on Wednesday (December 7) in the morning where the government can clarify its stand,� Swaraj told PTI.
BJP has made it clear that it wanted a complete rollback of Government�s decision on FDI. �BJP has clearly stated in the all-party meeting that it wants a rollback. Let the Government come out with a formal response,� party spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters.
�We continue to stick to our demand of unconditional reversal of the decision on FDI. Mukherjee told us that Government has decided to put the decision of FDI in suspension and wanted the Parliament session to continue,� Yechury later said.
However, this did not convince Swaraj and Yechury and both insisted that an all-party meeting be called where the government can formally convey its view.
�On that basis, a decision can be taken,� Yechury said.
Sources in both the BJP and the Left parties insisted that since there are differences within the Union Cabinet as well as in Congress on the FDI issue, such informal communication may not be the last word.
UPA allies TMC and DMK have openly opposed the decision while NCP has suggested that the Government should go by the sense of the House on this matter.