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Defiant govt notifies FDI

UPA decides to take on Opposition
Last Updated 20 September 2012, 20:58 IST

Undeterred by opposition from a range of political parties against the slew of reforms it anno­unced last week, the Congress-led Centre on Thursday went ahead with notifying the controversial FDI in multi-brand retail, throwing open India’s $450 billion retail market to foreign investors.

The government issued the notification late in the evening, formalising the move with immediate effect.

Along with the multi-brand retail, the government also notified the decision of 49 per cent FDI by foreign airlines in the domestic carriers and increasing foreign equity cap from 49 per cent to 74 per cent in broadcasting, besides allowing 49 per cent FDI in power exchanges.

In a bid to reach out to people, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is likely to make a broadcast on Friday, seeking support for his reform package. This may happen immediately after the ministers belonging to the Trinamool Congess, which has announced pullout from the United Progressive Alliance, submit their resignations to him
on Friday.

With Singh’s government showing no sign of yielding and Trinamool set to pull out from the UPA, all eyes are now set on Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati, both supporting UPA from outside,  and of course President Pranab Mukherjee.

However, Mukherjee, now two months into his position as President, may not have to take a call on the fate of the UPA-II, at least immediately even if the Trinamool MPs call on him and present to him letters to formally dissociate themselves from the ruling coalition and withdrawing support to the government.

Mukherjee may not have to ask the prime minister to go for a trial of strength in the Lok Sabha. The reason being that both the SP and the BSP had given in writing to the (then) President in 2009, offering their support to the UPA government from outside. Mulayam and Mayawati do not seem to be in the mood to follow in the footsteps of Mamata and put the UPA Government in real crisis.

But then, the UPA cannot rest assured on that. Mulayam, who on Thursday joined the Bharat bandh, is known to be an unreliable ally. A senior SP leader told Deccan Herald that there was no guarantee of his party continuing to offer outside support to the UPA. “The government may fall even in winter session of Parliament (which starts in November),” he remarked.

As for Mayawati, she has refrained from making any remarks beyond stating that her party will meet on October 10, to take a call on the political situation. The BSP and SP have 21 and 22 MPs in the Lok Sabha and any one of the two parties would be enough to fill in the vacuum that the 19 MPs of the Trinamool Congress would leave in the UPA.

Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Thursday said the government will stick to the reforms course even if it were to lose an ally. “We had enough friends yesterday, we have enough friends today. So, I don't think why you should doubt our stability,” Chidambaram told reporters, dismissing queries about threat to government’s stability .

“If we can acquire new friends, why would we not?”, he quipped, making it amply clear that the government had no reservations on seeking new alliance partners on the eve of Trinamool quitting UPA.

Guessing game

* Prime Minister Manmohan Singh likely to drum up support on TV
* All eyes on SP, BSP & President Pranab Mukherjee
* Mukherjee may not ask PM for trial of strength 
* Mulayam, Maya not keen to follow Mamata and withdraw support
* SP says government may fall in winter session

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(Published 20 September 2012, 15:53 IST)

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