Left slams SP, BSP over vote on FDI

The Left parties on Monday slammed the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party for not taking a clear stand on the ensuing debate on FDI under Rule 184 in the Parliament. They said that voting over FDI won't end their struggle on the issue. The Left parties alleged that the government had "arranged" votes through "wholesale trading".

Addressing a convention against FDI in multi-brand retail trade, leaders of all four Left parties sought to put the Congress-led coalition on notice by asking it to "get ready" for another round of battle on the amendments to the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).

"The issue does not end with vote in Parliament. All Opposition parties have opposed to the policy and even some UPA allies are not with the Congress on this issue," CPM general secretary Prakash Karat said as Lok Sabha will begin a discussion on FDI on Tuesday. "If all the parties which are opposed to FDI votes against the government then it means Parliament is against the policy," he said, warning that the battle would spill over to the streets.

CPI leader A B Bardhan said one has to wait and watch "how many people would be bought" by the government to win the vote in Parliament, while criticising the non-committal approach of SP and BSP "which oppose the FDI" but are not clear on the vote.

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