FDI in retail: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh steps in as retail war escalates

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will meet leaders of opposition parties on Tuesday morning in an attempt to defuse a growing political crisis over the government’s decision to allow foreign retailers to own majority stakes in Indian supermarkets.
The decision has resulted in the National Democratic Alliance and the Left parties forging a common front, and threatening to paralyse Parliament till the government retraces its steps.

But the government appeared to be holding firm with Congress party president Sonia Gandhi meeting senior party leaders in the evening to formalise the government’s strategy to counter the opposition onslaught and dissent from within, notably from two of the UPA’s constituents and the Kerala unit of the Congress.

Those present at the confabulation included the prime minister, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee and Ahmed Patel, the powerful political secretary to Gandhi, according to people familiar with the matter.