An elated United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government asserted it was home and dry in the FDI in multi-brand retail debate as Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader Mayawati abandoned her party’s tentativeness and announced it was in favour of the government, barely 24 hours after her party walked out from the voting in the Lok Sabha.
With this, the battle in the Rajya Sabha that the government was so apprehensive about as it does not have majority there, was won even before it was fought. The Samajwadi Party said its nine MPs will abstain from voting tomorrow. This means the result in the vote tomorrow is irrelevant: there is no doubt that it is the government that will win it.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal nath and his junior colleague Rajiv Shukla’s faces were wreathed in smiles as they and others on the treasury benches thumped the table vigorously to the sound of cheers when Mayawati ended her speech with the statement that BSP will oppose the opposition motion because ‘it did not want to be seen as siding with communal forces’.
The atmosphere in the House, too, changed perceptibly. The next speaker, NK Singh of the Janata Dal United, while stating his party was opposed to FDI in retail, nevertheless made several helpful suggestions to the government that saw Commerce Minister Anand Sharma nod vigorously: including setting up a regulator for the sector and devising a model contract for farmers with retailer.
Maywati minced no words about her doubts about FDI in retail. But all governments needed capital, she said; besides the government had to conduct other financial business as well. How the UPA negotiated the deal with her is a story that government is yet to reveal. But it is clear that in the future too, Mayawati will back the government, support that will be badly needed to clear the raft of financial bills that are due to come up in the next few days.
It almost seemed that BJP leader Sushma Swaraj’s sneering remark yesterday about the BSP and SP being bought over (they walked out) by the intimidation of CBI, proved costly for the Opposition as Mayawati launched in to a diatribe on how the BJP led NDA had misued the CBI for its own interests.
The enormous gains that the Opposition had scored with its Leader of the Opposition Arun Jaitley, tearing into the UPA and its “entire debate based on deception and concocted figures” appeared to have been lost in the pandemonium that ensued as Mayawati attacked Swaraj for casting aspersion on them (BSP).
Accusing the UPA of heading a “minority government” both Jaitley and AIADMK’s V Maitreyan, cited the “magic number” of 272 that the UPA had repeatedly failed to muster in the Lok Sabha. “You have fallen short of 18 of a majority in the Lower House, after this figure, you are a lame duck government," said Jaitley.
Jaitley drove home the point that the votes that the UPA had succeeded in garnering in their support, however did not translate into open support for its faulty FDI policy. Even allies like NCP, Jaitley said are doubtful about implementing it in Maharashtra and have announced that they would be first discussing it in their state.
“Every change is not a reform,” Jaitley said elaborating on the job structure in India where more than half are self employed with the majority being in agriculture and the small scale sector. Bringing in FDI would directly impact this sector and the 40 million that are employed in SMEs, said Jaitley.
While lavishing left handed praise on former Commerce Minister Kamal Nath and at the same time chiding the present one, Anand Sharma; the Leader of the Opposition reminded him that the “Pendulam has swung in favour of low cost economies.” Therefore international retail trade sources its products internationally and not locally.
"Is making cold chains impossible? It is not rocket science," he said, challenging the arguments put forward by the UPA justifying the need for FDI in the sector.
Describing Walmart and its ilk as “supermiddlemen” Jaitley trashed the Law minister Ashwani Kumar’s argument that FDI in retail would circumvent middlemen who end up extorting farmers.
AIADMK member V Maitreyan who initiated the discussion said the measure was earlier opposed by both Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi when they were in the Opposition.
Ridiculing arch rivals DMK as “worse than circus buffoons” Maitreyan attacked them for voting with the UPA even while they joined in the bandh against FDI in retail trade.
