Day 1 of House is washout as govt refuses to discuss FDI

CNBC-TV18's economy editor Siddharth Zarabi explains that going forward the Winter Session at Parliament could be a washout after the House was brought to a standstill on the first day. Zarabi also adds that the Prime Minister has called for an all-party meeting on Monday.

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It is likely that the Winter Session may become a repeat of the Monsoon Session which ended very inconclusively.  The no-confidence motion initiated by the Trinamool Congress has been rejected and it was disallowed by the Speaker. Now it is upto to the Speaker to decide on request by the BJP and the Left seeking a debate with voting on FDI in Parliament.
And despite the Prime Minister stating that the government was open to discussion, there has been no indication from the government regarding its willingness to discuss the FDI issue. Parliamentary affairs minister Kamal Nath reiterated that no voting required on FDI – a view that Anand Sharma has be stating for the past few days, specifying that there was no requirement for an executive decision to be voted upon in Parliament. Therefore, the divide and the distance between the BJP-led Opposition and the UPA remains wide.
There will be, perhaps no meeting of minds on this issue despite the all-party meeting that has been scheduled for Monday where some sections of the Opposition, such as the Janata Dal (United), have gone on record stating that voting is perhaps not necessary.
So given that, it is clear that the BJP will see political merit to continue to press ahead on this issue and put the government on the mat. This will therefore mean that no Parliamentary business will be transacted.
This in some ways also allows the BJP to move away from the recent issue where its own party president has come under question for allegations of financial impropriety. It also takes away attention to some extent away from the Ajmal Kasab hanging.
There is little expectation of Parliament functioning normally over the next few days beyond the normal questions and answers being tabled.
So at this point of time, there are strong indications that this session could be a complete washout.