Fresh Mandate

UPA Govt. took a policy decision on FDI without taking its allies, opposition parties and people of the country into confidence. Clearly, majority does not seem to be on its side. The govt. is a coalition of several parties and one party cannot claim monopoly which the Congress is seemingly doing all the way. This does not augur well. FDI may be good, may be bad. This must be decided by the country as a whole and not just by some handpicked people claiming to have got more knowledge than others. Maybe, they really have more knowledge. But still they need people's certification which the government does not have as it had not promised to bring in FDI in its declared election manifesto. The immediate crises that the govt faces border on its credibility. First, it declared its policy when it could easily have discussed the matter in the parliament in the on-going session besides discussing the matter with its own allies that support and sustain the government. Second, the government has declared that it is not going to roll it back come what may. That being the position, why should there be an all party meeting to discuss a non-negotiable matter? Is it not waste of time and energy? PM convenes the meeting and yet he is not going to attend the meet. What kind of a prime minister do we have? Pranab Babu is supposed to be trouble shooter, when in fact more often than not he is the trouble creator. He is a staunch supporter of FDI and has played a crucial part in getting it approved without consulting anyone. Its the same Pranab Mukherjee that forced bankers to settle for pension from 27.11.2009 flouting the statutory provisions of pension giving rise to much heart-burning amongst the bankers. The rationale is bizarre. The date just occurred to him and he finalized it. And we have to take it that he is a democrat who loses his temper every now and then. He is the one to lead the all party meeting. Unfortunately, those on the opposite sides also do not inspire enough confidence. When both the protagonists on either side are firm that they are not going to re-negotiate the question of FDI, what's the logic of this meeting that is taking place at this point of time? If the govt.  is strong in its conviction, it should be ready to debate the issue under provisions for voting and if it loses it should go to the people and seek their mandate. Fresh mandate seems to be the only way out of this chaos to which the UPA has pushed our country into.