Tiruchirappalli: Samajwadi Party (SP) would "fight tooth and nail" any further enhancement of foreign direct investment (FDI) limit in insurance, telecom and civil aviation sectors, its General Secretary Amar Singh said today (July 21, 2004).

"Even if the Left parties agree for a compromise, we will not allow the UPA (United Progressive Alliance) Government to proceed on this," he told reporters in Tiruchirappalli during a transit on way to Kumbakonam to meet the injured and families of deceased.

Singh wondered why the Government should allow FDI in the insurance sector when the LIC (Life Insurance Corporation) had grown by 74 per cent and been playing a major role in country's economic development.

"We are not opposing the FDI for the sake of opposition. Our experience and insight clearly tell that there is no need for FDI in the three sectors," he said.

He wanted Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister P Chidambaram to learn lessons from the "India Shining" policies of the previous NDA (National Democratic Alliance) Government "which helped in boosting the Sensex and the corporate sector."

However, Singh said the SP would welcome FDI in infrastructure building such as water, power and roads.

On the "tainted" ministers issue, he said the SP did not "want to rock the boat", but recalled that during the United Front regime several ministers were dropped at the insistence of the Left parties. "I can only sympathise with Prime Minister Singh who is a man of integrity and honesty."