Kolkata: Veteran CPI leader Gurudas Dasgupta on Tuesday blamed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for the impasse in the Parliament over FDI in retail and said that only a total rollback of the decision could ensure normalcy.
"The Prime Minister is responsible for this situation. He is threatening to resign if FDI in retail does not go through," Dasgupta told a press conference here. "We have never asked for his resignation, but the Prime Minister himself has offered to resign. The Prime Minister is definitely responsible," Dasgupta said.
Dasgupta claimed that the Opposition was not to be blamed for the present situation in parliament. "We are very sorry that Parliament is stalled for so long. While we want the Parliament to function, we also want the FDI in retail to be stopped." With an all-party meeting scheduled to discuss the issue tomorrow, he said "we want to see what decision the government takes, then we will take our stand."
The veteran CPI leader criticised Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee`s statement that the Centre would suspend its decision on FDI in retail till a consensus was evolved.
Dasgupta said that Banerjee, having been a member of the Parliament, should not have said this when the House was in session.
"I do not know what transpired in private discussion between Finance Minister Manmohan Singh and Mamata Banerjee, but she should not have said this," he said.
The Trinamool Congress, which is part of the UPA government, is opposed to FDI in retail.
PTI