Retail FDI: House heading for another ‘winter storm’.

NEW DELHI: Weeks before Parliament opens for the winter session, the war over FDI in multi-brand retail is intensifying , with the Congress pushing for it with all its might and the BJP, Left, TMC and SP, among others, opposing it tooth and nail.

This was evident from political reactions from across the spectrum to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and PM Manmohan Singh pitching for FDI at the Ramlila grounds on Sunday.

Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley said, "The government has no answer to the manufacturing jobs falling due to FDI in multi-brand retail and to the displacement of retail jobs.

It says middlemen will be eliminated , but this will only benefit the retailers and not the farmer. In the US and Europe, a subsidy of $1 billion per day is given to farmers due to this reason."

CPM general secretary Prakash Karat reacted to the Congress's advocacy of FDI in multi-brand retail saying, "They are helping Walmart." He also said the government should pass the "democratic test" on FDI by putting the decision to vote in Parliament.

Source :  timesofindia.indiatimes.com