As TMC plans no-trust motion,DMK says rethink retail FDI

Speaking to reporters at the DMK headquarters after the party’s executive committee meeting,Karunanidhi said in reply to a question that they would support a resolution if any against the proposal. Earlier the DMK adopted a resolution saying FDI in multi-brand retail was not suited for a developing country like India and would affect the poor,middle class and small-time traders. The meeting chaired by Karunanidhi also urged the Centre to reject the recommendations put forth by the Kelkar committee on fiscal consolidation.

Going all out against the UPA at Delhi’s rally,Mamata said her party would move a no-confidence motion against the government “if need be”,over FDI and price rise,the next time Parliament is in session.

“I appeal to the political parties whose support has kept this government alive for now. This government is bound to fall and my information is that it will not last beyond March. If need be,we will move a resolution of no-confidence against this government in the next session,” she said.

The Trinamool chief also announced plans to form a “federal front” with all regional parties,saying the country was no longer ruled from Delhi. As JD(U) chief and NDA convenor Sharad Yadav shared the stage with her,Mamata said: “I will go to Lucknow on November 17 and… I will call (Samajwadi Party chief) Mulayamji and (Uttar Pradesh CM) Akhilesh to share the dais with us.”

At the Patna rally also planned for next month,the Trinamool would invite Bihar CM Nitish Kumar. Mamata is also planning to hold rallies in Chandigarh and in the south. “I am ready to work with other parties to bring a resolution against the government… I would request other political parties not to support this government,” she said.

Karunanidhi,however,stressed that the party’s opposition to FDI in retail would not affect the relationship with the Congress at the Centre. When pressed repeatedly on the point that the Centre had gone ahead with the decisions even after the DMK had made its displeasure clear,Karunanidhi said: “We believe that the Prime Minister will take note of the opposition that we have.”

Asked why his party continued to support the Congress,Karunanidhi said the DMK was keen to prevent a backward,communal government ruling the country.

Mamata is also planning another rally in Delhi,on November 22,when she would hold a 48-hour dharna against the government. Reiterating its claim that the UPA government had changed its position on the matter several times,the TMC floated pamphlets at the Delhi rally to show that in 2011,then Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee had told Parliament that FDI in retail would not be rolled out without consultations with all stakeholders and that the chief ministers would be kept in the loop.

It also read out from “a 2009 report of a Parliamentary Standing Committee on FDI”,saying the “projection of corporate retail to create two million jobs is highly exaggerated,ignoring 200 million people dependent on the retail sector (who are) likely to be rendered jobless”.

TMC MPs such as Sultan Ahmed and Saugata Roy took a line taken by BJP’s Narendra Modi recently,saying the decision to enhance FDI was taken to appease America ahead of the US presidential elections. “They want to benefit US companies,” Mamata said,claiming that while Walmart had to procure around 70 per cent from the US domestic market,“that cap here has been relaxed to just 30 per cent”.

With a few LPG cylinders displayed on the stage,the West Bengal CM said the decision to cap the number of subsidised cylinders to families was a direct assault on the common man. “They think people need only six cylinders per year. Looks like they are completely detached from reality. They don’t cook at home,their food is brought from outside,” she said. “With such caps on cylinders,how do they plan to continue midday meals for schools?”