An end to the stalemate in Parliament on FDI in retail may end today with the government hinting that it has no problem over a vote on the issue. To break the impasse, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath, along with his deputy Rajiv Shukla, held a meeting with Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj and her Rajya Sabha counterpart Arun Jaitley. The meeting remained inconclusive with the opposition sticking to its demand for a debate on the issue with voting.

Later, Kamal Nath told newspersons that the government cannot accept a discussion with voting but it has left the matter to the presiding officers to decide. He said they can take any decision they want in the interest of running the House.

Sushma Swaraj said that the government asked for FDI debate without voting but the BJP has refused to accept it. She alleged that the government did not adhere to its commitment of consulting all stakeholders before taking a decision on FDI in multi-brand retail.
Trinamool Congress said it will take a stand only after Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar takes a decision on the issue. Earlier, Kamalnath also met the Lok Sabha Speaker.