PM used I-Day speech to sell FDI in retail: Oppn

Janata Dal-United (JD-U) and the CPM have accused Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of using Independence-Day speech to promote the cause of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in retail sector.

Both the political parties have termed Singh’s speech from the ramparts of Red Fort as “lacklusture.” JD-U president Sharad Yadav made the allegation through a statement on Thursday. CPM has done the same in an editorial of the forthcoming issue of party mouthpiece - People’s Democracy. Yadav said that the Prime Minister had “admitted that Government could not allow FDI in retail sector due to the non-agreement of the other parties in the Government.”

 “It is good that Congress has not got absolute majority, otherwise they would have allowed the FDI in retail sector and destroyed more than 22 crore people engaged in this sector,” Yadav said. “If we see the statistics, the market share of unorganized retail sector is 97 per cent of the total retail sector as compared to organized retail sector which accounts for only 2-3 per cent,” he added.