The Left parties will raise the issues of foreign direct investment in retail sector and privatisation of Delhi and Mumbai airports in the current session of Parliament. |
Emerging from a meeting to decide their strategy for the Budget session, leaders of the four Left parties declared that they will seek a discussion on these issues in Parliament. |
Flanked by CPI(M) Politburo member Sitaram Yechury, CPI MP Gurudas Dasgupta and other leaders at the press briefing today, CPI(M) MP Nilotpal Basu said retail sector was the second highest employment generator in the country and hence the Left parties would oppose any move to allow FDI in this sector. They were also opposed to the government's decision to allow FDI in single-brand goods he said. |
Referring to the modernisation of airports, Basu said, "Nothing can stop us from discussing (in Parliament) the accountability of the government and the manner in which it (bidding process) was done." |
Given the fact that the BJP shares the Left's concern about FDI in retail, the issue is likely to witness a heated debate if and when it is raised in Parliament. An indication to this effect came at the All India Convention of Traders, organised by the traders' associations of Maharashtra here today. |
Sharing the dais at the convention were senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi, NDA Convenor George Fernandes and CPI General Secretary A B Bardhan. Joshi said the BJP would bring a resolution on the issue of FDI in retail in Parliament. |
"Good thing is Marxists will also support it," he said. He argued that if FDI was allowed in the retail sector, big companies would sell the "cheapest product", which may not have been made in India. "For instance, if Wal Mart gets the cheapest shoes from China, they will sell Chinese goods because they are here to make profits." |
Once Indian manufacturers are out (of competition), they will charge as much as they want." |
Terming the government's move as a "big attack" on the Indian economy by "the FDI lobby and the MNCs", Bardhan lamented that the concerns of the Left were not heard by the government. The Left parties wrote to the government, protested and shouted, but were finally ignored, he said. |
Both Bardhan and Joshi urged the traders to fight against the government's move. They wanted the traders to fight in the streets through demonstrations and rallies, while they advocated their cause at the political level. |