Govt may agree to FDI vote, is wooing allies

Ahead of Monday’s all-party meeting to resolve the FDI tangle, the Congress is trying to secure tacit support from the DMK, SP and BSP. Saubhadra Chatterji & Aurangzeb Naqshbandi report.

Ahead of Monday’s all-party meeting to resolve the FDI tangle, the Congress is trying to secure tacit support from the DMK, SP and BSP.

With the first two days of the winter session washed out over the government’s decision to introduce FDI in multi-brand retail, the UPA may go in for a debate in the two Houses if these three parties agree to at least abstain during the voting.

Ministers Kamal Nath, Kapil Sibal and Rajiv Shukla are in touch with the leaders of these parties.

Mulayam Singh Yadav has maintained the SP can’t vote with the UPA, but Congress managers are working to get on him board. Sonia Gandhi reached out to him on Thursday by wishing him on his birthday.

The Congress is hopeful of some assurance from BSP chief Mayawati while Sibal may head out to Chennai this weekend to meet DMK chief M Karunanidhi.

The BJP, on its part, is firm on its demand for a vote. When finance minister P Chidambaram met party leaders Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj on Friday to seek their support on some key bills, he was reportedly told to resolve the FDI logjam first.