Zeenews bureau
New Delhi: In a bid to clear the logjam over the issue of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in retail sector, the core committee of Congress met here Friday.
Attended by senior party leaders like AK Antony, P Chidambaram and Pranab Mukherjee, along with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the meeting is believed to have discussed various ways to dispel the stand-off not only with the Opposition but also with its own allies.
According to Zee News sources, it was decided in the meeting that Congress will try to talk to its allies to convince them.
Earlier in the day also, with Parliament adjourned for the ninth consecutive day after uproar over FDI and other issues, Congress had sought the cooperation of the Opposition to run it smoothly.
"When both the ruling party and Opposition decide to run the House, it would continue to run," Congress spokesperson Rashid Alvi told reporters outside the Parliament.
Both Houses of Parliament were adjourned for the ninth consecutive day amid noisy scenes over FDI and other issues.
"The government is ready with business agenda, there are 31 Bills pending on which discussion should take place and 24 more Bills to be introduced. We are ready to conduct legislative business in the House but we need the cooperation of Opposition to run the House," Alvi said.
He said the Opposition had earlier agreed to pass two Bills in a day but in a sudden change of stand they are not ready for discussion now.
"We are always ready for discussion. But opposition is not ready for it," he said.
On the BJP's stand over FDI issue, Union Minister Harish Rawat said, "We can understand opposition by the Left. They are against reforms. But why BJP, which always talks of second generation reforms, is opposing it. They always say they are in favour of reforms but when we bring reforms, they oppose it."
With PTI Inputs
First Published: Friday, December 02, 2011, 18:52