Mayawati does a Mulayam: Opposes FDI, but silent on Parl vote

BSP supremo Mayawati is not about to make life any easier for the ruling UPA. With a debate and vote on the government’s contentious decision to introduce FDI in the retail sector scheduled for both houses of Parliament next week, Mayawati seems to have toughened her stand on the issue. The former UP Chief Minister said that while it was important for India to bring in foreign investment, she was not convinced that FDI in the retail sector was the answer. " [caption id=“attachment_543260” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] PTI[/caption] Addressing journalists in Lucknow she said, “We need foreign investment but we also need to keep a tight watch on direct foreign investment - nations in east Asia have suffered for blindly following this path. Inviting FDI in retail without clauses of using local produce would mean an invitation to foreigners to earn maximum profits here”. She added that she feared FDI would adversely affect small farmers, and said that it should not be implemented hastily in the retail sector, and restricted only to areas which would fuel development. ““Middle income people, retailers, farmers will be badly hit by FDI. It will also lead to unemployment”. Despite this show of opposition however, Mayawati stopped short of saying that she would oppose the measure on the floor of the house, choosing instead to say that she would decide when the time came. And although the press conference focused on FDI, Mayawati’s mind is really on the passage of the SC/ST promotions quota bill which was introduced in the Rajya Sabha in the last parliament session. She has repeatedly said that the bill needs to be passed before any other bill is even taken up for discussion. The SP violently opposed it. The government needs the support of both the BSP and SP if it is to win any debate or vote on FDI. The SP has already said that it will not support the bill in the Rajya Sabha, in what has also been seen as a way of arm twisting the government over the SC/ST bill. The government is fairly confident of its numbers in the Lok Sabha, but stands a very real possibility of losing in the Rajya Sabha. The vote in both Houses is a symbolic one, but a loss would be an embarrassment for the government, and only strengthen the Opposition’s demand for a rollback of the reform altogether.