FDI issue: Half of Winter Session of Parliament washed out

Almost half of the Winter session was washed out with the ninth consecutive day today being lost to the din caused by the Opposition and two UPA constituents over their demand for a rollback of the decision to allow FDI in retail.

Logjam prevailed in Parliament despite government's efforts to placate its allies - DMK and Trinamool Congress - whose members continued to join the Opposition in vociferously protesting the FDI decision.

'Down, Down, FDI', 'FDI Wapas Lo' rent the air in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha with Trinamool Congress and DMK members joining the Opposition BJP, Left, JD-U and Samajwadi Party in the protests against the move.

Some slogan-shouting Trinamool members, along with those from the Left, JD(U) and SP, even stormed the Well in the Lok Sabha.

With Parliament going into a four-day recess, the two Houses will now meet on December 7. The current session is slated to conclude on December 22.

It was the repeat of the previous days in both Houses as uproar started soon after they met for the day. Both Houses were first adjourned till noon and then for the day.

In Lok Sabha, as soon as Speaker Meira Kumar took up the Question Hour, Basudeb Acharia (CPI-M) was on his feet and tried to draw her attention to the FDI issue. He was joined by BJP member Murli Manohar Joshi.

Both Acharia and Joshi had given separate notices for adjournment motion to discuss the government decision to allow 51% FDI in multi-brand retail and 100% in single-brand retail. BJP and Left members were on their feet and raised slogans.