Pranab favoured consensus on FDI, says Bengal CM

The West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday reminded her fans on Facebook that President Pranab Mukherjee had a view different from the present government on the foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail. She posted this comment on her profile page and said that as the union finance minister did not favour the FDI principle without building a political consensus in the country. The Trinamool Congress chief claimed that the central government had deviated from its earlier stand on the issue.

She quoted Mukherjee as saying on 7 December 2011 in the Lok Sabha that a decision on FDI in multi-brand retail would be implemented only after a political consensus was reached. 'Now tell us who has deviated from this statement of the central government?' Banerjee asked on Facebook.