Parliament could resume business from today after almost two weeks' of no work

NEW DELHI: Parliament, which was not allowed to function by the Opposition for close to two weeks over the Centre's decision to allow FDI in retail, could resume business on Wednesday. Opposition parties on Tuesday indicated that they would be amenable to a commitment from the government to put the issue on hold till a consensus was hammered out.

Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee has convened an all-party meeting on Wednesday morning to formally announce the shift in the government's stand. Mukherjee, who has been negotiating with naysayers within the ruling side as well as the Opposition, has already told their leaders that the issue would be kept in abeyance. He had assured West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday that the retail FDI decision will be operationalised only after working out a consensus.

"We want Parliament to function and I expect both Houses to run normally tomorrow," said NDA convenor Sharad Yadav. Although NDA leaders are publicly insisting that the government should withdraw the FDI decision, there were clear indications that they would agree to the 'hold-back-till-consensus-emerges' line of Mukherjee. In event of an agreement at the all-party meeting, the adjournment motion moved by the Opposition will become infructuous.

The resolution to the stalemate in Parliament could provide an opportunity to the government to take its legislative agenda forward.

However, government managers will have some sequencing to do as the support of Trinamool appears to be on a case-to-case basis. The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority bill seems to have already become a casualty of Trinamool's aggression.

The party has said that it will not back the bill as it goes against the interests of the common man. In any case, the bill does not have the support of UPA's outside backers, SP and BSP. Congress will be keen on some action on the food security bill. Its leaders hope that the legislation that seeks to provide subsidised grain to 75% rural households and 50% urban dwellers would help the party restore its aam admi credentials.

The bill is expected to be cleared by the Cabinet this week. The Lokpal bill, expected to be taken up towards the end of the session, could see confrontation between the government and the Opposition.