Pranab takes a swipe: Parties putting politics before policy

When asked if the government was prepared for a vote in the Lok Sabha on the same pattern as on the India-US nuclear deal,Mukherjee said: “We are discussing (the issue) with various political parties. Sometimes it appears that there is no meeting ground. But if we can find an agreed text on which discussions can take place on the floor of the House,then perhaps we can resolve this issue.”

Union Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi,apparently after a word from party chief Mamata Banerjee,retaliated. Taking off on Mukherjee’s remark about narrow politics,he told reporters: “Jo narrow mind se sochtey hain,unko narrow lagta hai (People who think with a narrow mind,consider it narrow).”

As for Mukerhjee’s remark that opposition to FDI in retail was political,he said the finance minister was “very correct” as Parliament was a political institution.

“Parliament is not Lions Club or Rotary Club. It is a political thing. Constitution is a political constitution. Managing the affairs of the country is political. We have a political system which is called democracy. This is not a canteen where we come and have a chit-chat. This is serious business and part of politics. So he is very correct. It is absolutely part of politics.”

Speaking to reporters after a meeting of the newly-appointed 11-member Group of Ministers on Media at her residence,Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni said neither the Trinamool nor the DMK was with the Opposition on an adjournment motion over the FDI issue.

Asked if Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi were on the same page on the issue,Soni said: “Please don’t see ghosts where none exists.” Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal said FDI defined the BJP: “frustrated,desperate and insular”.