"We have talked to other parties in this short time and decided on this protest by way of the 12-hour all-India strike," CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat told newspersons here.
Karat also threatened to continue protests in various forms against these measures, saying "as far as the Left is concerned, the battle will not be over on September 20" . He warned that they will not allow retail chains to function whereever they open shops in the country.
Earlier, Left Front chairman in West Bengal Biman Bose said the strike would be enforced in the state from 6.00 AM to protest against the "anti-people decisions of the UPA government," and called upon the people to respond to it.
The BJP-led NDA yesterday announced a nation-wide strike on the same date September 20 on the same issues.
"Everybody is opposed to it (FDI in muti-brand retail, except Manmohan Singh, who is more sensitive to criticism in foreign land," he said referring to some articles in US publications that have alleged that "he is not performing, not allowing FDI in retail."
"What is said in Washington and London is more important for the Prime Minister than the interest of the people of the country," he alleged. (MORE)
