Centre relents on FDI in retail, calls all-party meet on Wednesday

The government has called an all-party meeting on the issue of foreign direct investment (FDI) in retail sector on Wednesday.
 
The meeting would be held on Parliament premises on Wednesday morning before the winter session resumes after a four-day break. The Opposition had insisted on this in its talks with Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee.
 
The chaos over the FDI issue was being seen as result of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's insistence that FDI in retail would not be rolled back with the government's dilemma on how to climb down without losing face.
 
The biggest question now is whether the government would admit in the all-party meet that its decision on FDI in retail would be rolled back. FDI in retail was the biggest policy initiative of UPA-2.
 
After Trinamool Congress, the CPI(M) and the BJP also claimed on Monday that the Centre's FDI decision was put on hold.
 
Earlier in the day, UPA's chief trouble shooter Mukherjee spoke to opposition leaders Sushma Swaraj, L.K. Advani and Sitaram Yechury to ensure that Parliament session continued uninterrupted from Wednesday.
 
BJP spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad said, "Both L.K. Advani and Sushma Swaraj requested Pranab Mukherjee that an all-party meeting be called and the government's view in detail be formally conveyed. And thereafter the BJP will formally take its position. As far as the BJP is concerned, we are very keen that Parliament must run. There must be debate, discussions and all other legitimate parliamentary activity."