Sensing it can embarrass the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government on the hiking of sectoral foreign direct investment (FDI) caps, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today decided to hold a brainstorming session to finalise its own stand on the issue. It would then hold a meeting with its alliance partners, party sources said. Differences on the FDI issue have dogged the BJP, and the larger Sangh Parivar, ever since the party came to power at the Centre. At one end of the spectrum, the Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM) has prepared a white paper, which cites security concerns for disallowing foreign investment in telecom.
On the other, BJP leaders like former Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha and former Law Minister Arun Jaitley reportedly feel that a hike in sectoral caps is unlikely to have any negative effect on the Indian economy.
BJP allies like the Janata Dal (United) are opposed to FDI hikes on ideological grounds. JD (U) leader and former Defence Minister George Fernandes had, while being part of the government, sought a "mid-course correction" in the policies of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) regime on privatisation and FDI.
These divisions came to the fore at the parliamentary party meeting today.
While some BJP MPs were in favour of the UPA government's proposals, others felt it would not be proper to support them, as the SJM and Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh were opposed to them, sources said. They also recalled that the NDA government had itself capped the FDI limit in the insurance sector at 26 per cent.
Some members also felt that now that the party was no more in power, it should not take any stand that would alienate employees in the insurance, civil aviation and telecom sectors, where the FDI limits had been hiked. They felt they should "let the UPA government face the music".
In view of these "differences", BJP President M Venkaiah Naidu suggested that party leaders should first discuss the issue threadbare, and then hold talks with NDA allies, to formulate a common stand when the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (Amendment) Bill came up for voting, the sources said.
The amendment to the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority Act will not be passed if the Left follows its declared policy and votes against changes in the Act to raise the FDI cap in the sector. The combined votes of the Left parties, BJP and its allies will be enough t defeat the Bill.
According to the sources, BJP ally Shiv Sena has also expressed serious reservations about the hike in sectoral caps and decided to oppose the move.
Though the BJP is trying to arrive at a consensus, the party is not "too worried" over the differences of opinion within the party on the matter as "it is no more in the government", according to the sources.
With the BJP's national executive in Mumbai favouring a return to its "ideological constituency", including Hindutva and swadeshi, the party does not want to alienate its Sangh Parivar affiliates while in the Opposition, according to the sources.
