Both the Houses of Parliament were paralysed today also and all eyes are now focused on the all-party meeting convened by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath on Monday in a bid to break the logjam.
While there was no word from the government whether it would accept the opposition demand, government floor managers are said to be working overtime to cobble up numbers to ward off any threat in the event of a vote.
Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj stuck to the stand on a vote on the issue saying this was necessary because the government has violated its assurance in Parliament that FDI in multi-brand retail will not be implemented till a consensus is reached among all stakeholders.
Parliament members can express their opinion only this way and "that is why we are pressing for a discussion under Rule 184," she tweeted.
Speculation was that Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal could proceed to Chennai on Sunday for persuading DMK supremo M Karunanidhi to support the government stand on FDI in retail.
Sibal, however, denied any such possibility. "Why should we take a vote? I am not going to Chennai," he said. (MORE)
