There has been no breakthrough yet on ending the impasse in Parliament over the format of debate on the issue of FDI in retail sector. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath had meetings with Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj and Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitely in New Delhi today on ending the stalemate but the meeting remained inconclusive.

Earlier today, Kamal Nath also met Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar on the issue. Later, he said Presiding officers should take any decision they want on a discussion in the interest of running Parliament.

Talking to reporters after the meeting, Sushma Swaraj said that the government asked for FDI debate without voting and the BJP has refused to accept it. She said Opposition is sticking to its demand that a discussion on FDI in retail should be under rule that entails voting.

The meeting came amid the uproar over Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in retail issue in the parliament. Yesterday, Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh has expressed confidence that the government has the required strength in Parliament in case of voting on FDI issue.