Hit by the absence of DMK and NCP Ministers in the Thursday Union Cabinet meeting, which approved UPA’s big bang reforms, an isolated Congress geared up for a bitter face-off with the Opposition over opening up insurance and pension sectors for foreign direct investment (FDI). Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister P Chidambaram may have pushed these reform measures in the Cabinet meet, but the real battle may be fought on the streets as most of the Opposition parties are apprehensive of allowing foreign players entry into such sensitive domains that touch the lives of millions of common men and the working class.