New Delhi: Claiming success in stalling FDI
in retail, the CPI(M) on Wednesday demanded an immediate ban on
forward trading in all agriculture commodities, rollback of
petrol prices and release of excess foodgrains in government
stocks.
"We are happy that this time the government has yielded
without waiting for the washout of the entire Parliament
session. This time they have relented mid-way through the
session by agreeing to suspend the decision on FDI in retail,"
CPI(M) politburo member Sitaram Yechury told reporters here.
Asked whether the CPI(M) had gone back on its demand for
complete rollback of the FDI decision, he said, "As long as
we, as a political party, are part of the stakeholders, there
cannot be a consensus."
He pointed out that the government has announced that no
decision would be taken in this matter till a consensus is
reached in discussions with all stakeholders.
On Trinamool Congress claiming credit for the suspension
of the FDI decision, Yechury said the CPI(M) had been
consistently opposing the move since 2004.
"We stopped this from happening from 2004. P Chidambaram,
the Finance Minister in UPA-I, had made the announcement in
the first budget speech," he said.
Yechury said that the CPI(M) will now try to impress upon
the government to immediately ban all forward trading in all
agriculture commodities.
Besides this, he said the party will also demand a
rollback in the hike in petrol prices as the oil marketing
companies have been making profits.
Contending that there was excess stock of food grains,
he said the CPI(M) wanted it to be released to states at
BPL prices so that grain prices can be stabilised.
PTI
First Published: Wednesday, December 07, 2011, 17:51