The Left parties were also critical of SP and BSP which have not made clear their stand on a vote against FDI in retail in both houses of Parliament, alleging that the government appears to have "arranged" votes through "wholesale trading".
Addressing a Convention Against FDI in Multi-brand Retail Trade, leaders of all four Left parties sought to put the Congress-led coalition on notice by asking it to "get ready" for another round of battle on the amendments to the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).
"The issue does not end with vote in Parliament. All Opposition parties have opposed to the policy and even some UPA allies are not with the Congress on this issue," CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat said as Lok Sabha will begin a discussion on FDI tomorrow.
"If all the parties which are opposed to FDI votes against the government then it means Parliament is against the policy," he said, warning that the battle would spill over to the streets.
Going a step ahead, CPI leader A B Bardhan said one has to wait and watch "how many people would be bought" by the government to win the vote in Parliament, while criticising the non-committal approach of SP and BSP "which oppose the FDI outside the Parliament" but are not clear on the vote.
"Let us see what Mulayam and Mayawati do. Mayawati says she is opposed to the policy and Mulayam even came to jail with us but only in Parliament we will be able to see what they do," he said.
CPI(M) MP Sitaram Yechury said, "They accepted for a vote after five days. They needed five days for arranging votes. If parties like SP, TDP and JD(S), who were with us on streets to protest, also vote against FDI, the government will be defeated," he said. (More)