New Delhi, July 11
Ruling out the withdrawal of support to the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre, the CPM today said it would oppose the government’s decision to hike the FDI in some of the core sectors not only inside the Parliament but also outside it.
CPM Politburo member Sitaram
Yechuri, when asked specifically whether the party would withdraw support to the government on the FDI issue, said there was no question of it.
The
decision to oppose the government’s decision to hike the FDI was taken at the Politburo meeting of the CPM here.
Mr Yechuri however, said the party would “definitely” oppose hike in FDI in insurance sector in Parliament. It has opposed privatisation ever since the IRDA Bill was formulated.
He went on to add that the party would protest against the hike in the FDI in telecom and civil aviation, for which there was no need to bring in separate Bills, outside Parliament by mobilising mass support.
“We will try and persuade the government to see our point of view”, he said. He, however, parried questions on whether the party would oppose the Finance Bill.
“There will be discussions with the government on what kind of amendments are required in the Finance Bill”, he told reporters during the inter-session period of the meeting.
But later another Politiburo member
M.K. Pandhe said the party would oppose the Finance Bill in Parliament. CPM was not consulted on the FDI hike in telecom, aviation and insurance sectors, Mr Pandhe said.
Hike in FDI limit in the insurance sector would require amendments in the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) Act.
The Union Budget for 2004-05, presented by Finance Minister P. Chidambaram on July 8, proposed hike in the FDI limit in telecom from 49 to 74 per cent, civil aviation from 40 to 49 per cent and insurance from 26 to 49 per cent.
“In no country in the world, not more than 25 per cent of FDI in telecom sector is given to foreign companies but our decision to give complete control in telecom sector is totally anti-national and our party can never support this,” he said.
Similarly, FDI hike in insurance and aviation will not be supported by CPM, he said.
Asked whether they would bring a cut motion in Parliament, Mr Pandhe said, “We never said we will not move cut motions. Some other people may have said that. If you have to oppose certain things, cut motion is one of the methods. So our Parliamentary party will consider this aspect and take steps.”
Mr
Pandhe, however, did not rule out a dialogue with UPA partners asking them to reconsider the decision. “Of course, that is one method we have decided. We will tell the UPA, including the leadership, that these are our concerns and the government must take them into account,” he said.
