Terming as "anti-people" the Centre's decision to allow 51 per cent Foreign Direct Investment in retail sector, the Left Front on Monday said it would launch a nation-wide protest against it.
"We will oppose the anti-people decision in the House and outside. FDI in retail will snatch the livelihood of crores of people in the country. We will launch a nationwide movement against it," Left Front chairman Biman Bose told a rally at Rani Rashmoni Road here.
Hundreds of Left Front supporters participated in the rally held to protest corruption, black money, Trinamool Congress' alleged political violence against CPI(M) workers and supporters in West Bengal, besides FDI and price rise.
Hitting out at Trinamool Congress, Bose said, "Be it rise in prices of petro products, gas, fertilisers, in all cases TC has cooperated with the central government."
"Trinamool cannot absolve its responsibility over price rise and corruption in the Centre as they are part and parcel of the alliance. It cannot shirk its responsibility," he said before courting arrest along with other Left party leaders, including leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly Suryakanta Mishra, former state finance minister Asim Dasgupta and CPI state secretary Manju Kumar Majumdar. Mishra criticised BJP leader L K Advani's recent rath yatra, saying, "BJP has turned into Bharatiya Jatra (folk theatre) Party."
