By IANS,
New Delhi: Just a day after the government unveiled its new team of ministers to share the government’s view with people, many of them, including both senior and junior ministers, had no clue Saturday about the fate of the decision allowing foreign equity in retail.
Utter confusion prevailed in the government Saturday evening after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, quoting union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, said the government would put on hold its decision to allow FDI in multi-brand retail till a consensus emerges on the issue.
While many ministers, expected to brief the media on crucial political and policy matters, could not clarify the government’s position in response to Banerjee’s statement, a junior minister said he would be able to say anything only after speaking to Mukherjee.
If the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government chose to remain silent on the issue, probably awaiting the return of prime minister Manmohan Singh visiting the north eastern state of Manipur, the party was ambiguous in its response.
Congress media department chief Janardan Dwivedi told reporters: “In such a situation, broad consensus is required.”