Stepping up pressure ahead of the all-party meeting on the FDI retail issue,CPI(M) today said it would be satisfied only with complete rollback and not abeyance of the decision and warned smooth functioning of Parliament depends on the government's stand. CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat also reminded the government that it should not think of bringing back FDI in retail sector after the winter session of Parliament and his party would unite with other forces to oppose any such move. The government has informed Opposition parties that they are putting the decision on abeyance. This is an obvious plot. This abeyance is till the winter session. 2011 is going to end. 2012 is another year. Then,there will be no abeyance. We want complete cancellation of the policy. We are totally opposed to it. If government thinks they can manoeuvre and bring this back,then they are mistaken. We will unite with all other forces opposed to it, he told reporters releasing a booklet on FDI issue. Noting that the Opposition to FDI in retail was a good thing,Karat said they were waiting to hear what the government would say in the all-party meeting scheduled tomorrow. Tomorrow,after hearing what the government proposes to do,we will take a final decision. We will accept if the government agrees to give an assurance in Parliament that they are going to roll back,only then it will be smooth, he said when asked whether about Parliament functioning. Asked whether Trinamool Congress had hijacked the Left plank on FDI in retail,Karat said in a lighter vein that his party was very happy if the Trinamool had hijacked it. I think Trinamool should not be satisfied with abeyance. They should argue for complete cancellation of the decision, he said. On the impasse in Parliament,Karat said the government has insisted it was an executive decision and there was no need for any Parliamentary sanction. It is this adamant stand of the government which has created a deadlock and stalled the functioning of Parliament, he said terming the stand undemocratic and deplorable. The government is willing to oblige western governments lobbying for MNC retailers based in their countries but not willing to listen to elected representatives, he said. He said the Parliamentary Standing Committee was unanimously against FDI in retail but government was not ready to accept this. Not so long ago,the government was itself arguing for the Lokpal Bill to be studied by the relevant parliamentary standing committee in order to evolve a broad based national consensus. Anna Hazare and his team were accused of showing contempt for Parliamentary procedures because they wanted to bypass the standing committee. Today,the government is disregarding a unanimous report by the Standing Committee on FDI in retail. This is the height of hypocrisy, he said. Noting his party has been consistently opposing FDI in the retail sector,Karat said the UPA has done everything possible to bring Walmart to India. One constant theme has been the opening up of the market to MNCs, he said. Rubbishing claims by the government about the benefits of the move,he alleged the biggest myth is that farmers are going to be benefitted by this. International experience is that once these big chains establish themselves,they dictate prices. Producers will be at their mercy, he said. It is argued that elimination of intermediaries and direct procurement by MNCs will secure better prices but the fact is that the giant retailers would have far greater buying power vis-a-vis the farmers compared to existing intermediaries,he said.
