BJP backs Red alert on FDI cap hike

Govt faces first Budget casualty.

The Bharatiya Janata Party has decided to oppose the hike in the foreign direct investment (FDI) caps in the telecom, insurance and civil aviation sectors. A statement to this effect was made by former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on Wednesday.

Later in the day, party spokesperson Sushma Swaraj said the BJP would be opposing the hike in the FDI caps. With this, the UPA government will face its first parliamentary crisis since its allies the Left parties have declared their intention to oppose amendments to the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) Act to raise the FDI ceiling in insurance.

In the Lok Sabha, 236 members are in parties favouring raising FDI caps, while over 284 (the stand of some independents is not clear) are opposing the move.

The BJP's decision is influenced as much by the stand taken by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), which has come out with a resolution against the move, as it is by realpolitik.

Some BJP members said it was a good opportunity to embarrass the government. However, there is pressure from the Sangh as well. At a press conference held after the RSS' baithak in Raipur, party spokesperson Ram Madhav declared the RSS would be opposing the FDI cap hikes.

The RSS provides the cadre to the BJP, after the 2004 electoral defeat the BJP has shown willingness to go back to its old Hindutva line articulated by the RSS.

"In this matter, we share the opinion held by the Swadeshi Jagaran Manch. Like them, we also feel that the move will be against national interests," said Ram Madhav.

According to sources in the BJP, several leaders, including former finance ministers Yashwant Sinha and Jaswant Singh, had argued in favour of the hike.

However, the RSS brought up this proposal at the Raipur meeting where, in the same resolution, the organisation referred to the setting up of a non-party political forum to "protect the interests of Hindus".

The RSS-BJP's new stand is the clearest indication that the amendment in the IRDA Act cannot get parliamentary assent easily.