PM hopes for pushing through ‘essential’ reforms

The ambitious retail reform has been kept on hold following strong opposition by key UPA constituents like Trinamool Congress and DMK.

The Prime Minister said government stood committed to reforms as ever before but at the same time there is such a thing as political compulsion.

“Given the nature of coalition,the fact that we as the Congress Party do not have the majority we have to move at a pace whereby all our allies can be on the same page.

Therefore that certainly restricts our options,but we are hopeful that some essential reforms we can still push through after we have engaged our allies in a constructive,productive dialogue,” Singh told newsmen accompanying him on his return home from Moscow.

He further said “there is no way in which Government can move forward.”

“I am sure captains of industry recognise as much as anybody else what the reality of political situation in India is,” he added.

Singh’s remarks came when he was asked to comment about the increasingly belligerent criticism of his government’s performance by his own constituency–the industry and economic reforms story.

On the issue of revisiting FDI in retail,Singh said there is a need to evolve a broadbased consensus and the Government will work towards that.

“It’s my hope that once the elections to the various state Assemblies which are in the offing are over,all political parties can sit together,and we will then explore with them the possibilities of implementing the decision which is placed on hold,” he added.