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PM leads counter-attack on retail by Sanjay K Jha

Manmohan Singh today refused to yield to pressure on the question of allowing foreign direct investment in retail and appeared ready for a protracted battle, including the risk of a vote in Parliament despite his government’s fragile majority.

Somewhat reminiscent of his nuclear deal stand, the Prime Minister confronted those who had accused the government of taking a hasty decision on retail.

“We have not taken this decision in haste, but after a lot of consideration,” he told a Youth Congress convention.

The assertion came at a time his floor managers were crunching numbers and getting ready for a vote in the Lok Sabha against the grim backdrop of crucial allies siding with a united Opposition.

While finance minister Pranab Mukherjee spoke to DMK boss M. Karunanidhi and was trying to bring around Trinamul chief Mamata Banerjee, Singh conveyed his “sentiments” to every ally.

Although there were indications the government would accept the notices moved by the Left and the BJP for an adjournment motion to break the parliamentary deadlock on the decision to allow FDI in multi-brand retail, some senior leaders preferred a discussion under rule 184 that entails voting.

The UPA appeared to be confident of surviving the crisis as both Trinamul and the DMK have indicated that they don’t intend to pull down the government.

Losing a vote on the issue wouldn’t anyway mean curtains for the government, though it would be a huge loss of face.

With a heavy legislative agenda on its hands, including the Lokpal bill, which is set to trigger another round of confrontation, the government doesn’t want the parliamentary shutdown to continue for long.

The Congress also backed the government, contending that the Opposition couldn’t set conditions for conducting discussions in the House.

Party spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi accused the Opposition of converting Parliament into a field of agitation. He said the Opposition was behaving irresponsibly without taking into account national interest.

This followed instructions from the Prime Minister and Sonia Gandhi that the party should launch an aggressive drive to counter the propaganda about FDI spelling doom for small-time traders.

But Sonia chose not to touch upon the subject in her speech. The Congress chief avoided governance-related issues, including price rise, and concentrated on party matters.

Singh, who led the counter-attack, described the move as part of a series of good decisions taken by his government that sustained India’s growth through difficult times.

“It is our firm conviction that the decision will benefit our country,” he told the Youth Congress meet. “We believe that it will bring modern technology to the country, improve rural infrastructure, reduce wastage of agricultural produce and enable our farmers to get better prices for their crops. The differential that exists today between wholesale and retail prices will reduce and consumers will get commodities of daily use at reduced prices.”

Singh asked party workers to spread this message to counter the propaganda against the FDI decision. “As far as small retailers are concerned, the experience in some countries suggest that both big and small retailers can easily coexist in a big country like ours,” he said.

“Apart from this, we have put some conditions so that FDI in retail promotes our small industry. And most important, we are not forcing anyone to follow this policy — state governments that are not convinced of its usefulness have the means to prevent foreign participation in retail businesses in their states.”

He said FDI in retail would result in new employment opportunities in different sectors like food processing, transportation and storage. “I would urge all of you to inform the people correctly on this issue,” he said.

With several party leaders openly voicing protests, finance minister Mukherjee has decided to address a meeting of all Congress MPs tomorrow to brief them on the virtues of FDI in retail.