Mamata softens stand on FDI in aviation

Even as Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday refused to give up her opposition to the Congress-led UPA government's move to introduce 51% FDI in multi-brand retail, she showed some flexibility on foreign investment in civil aviation and sought further consultations.

Even as Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday refused to give up her opposition to the Congress-led UPA government's move to introduce 51% FDI in multi-brand retail, she showed some flexibility on foreign investment in civil aviation and sought further consultations.

HT Image

The second co-ordination committee meeting, however, saw the Congress getting all the allies on board to approve amendments to the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. The bill aims to combat money laundering and terror financing and declare such crimes as terrorist acts. It will be tabled in the ongoing session of parliament.

Banerjee is learnt to have told the meeting — chaired by Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and attended by PM Manmohan Singh — that she can't deviate from her party's 2011 poll manifesto which opposed retail FDI.

Sources said Banerjee readily agreed to a request from Congress leaders to extend her stay in Delhi for another day for further discussions.

A two-hour-long meeting was spent on discussing the logjam in Parliament. The entire UPA stood firmly behind the PM.

Earlier, the BJP tried to create a rift within the UPA by reaching out to Banerjee with a plea to join its protests against the PM. According to sources, Banerjee, during her chance meeting with BJP MPs Shahnawaz Hussain and Rajiv Pratap Rudy at the Delhi airport on Tuesday, rejected the suggestion.