FDI not in the interest of the country, says SP

Opposing FDI in multi-brand retail, Samajwadi Party today said that the move is not in the interest of the country.

"Our party is totally opposed to FDI in multi-brand retail," SP leader Ram Gopal Yadav told reporters outside Parliament House. Asked whether his party will oppose it during the voting in Parliament, he said, "If the government convinces us on the FDI issue... we will see but we cannot vote in favour of FDI. We are very much against FDI and we think it is not in the interest of the country."

On SP and BSP having the same stand on the FDI issue, Yadav parried the question, saying, "Many parties have the same stand so what". Meanwhile, BJD today issued a whip to its MPs to vote against FDI in both the Houses.

"BJD was having a consultation process on FDI involving not only MPs but also MLAs and state party organisations and finally today the party has issued a whip in both Houses to vote against it," BJD leader BJ Panda said.

On whether Odisha will implement FDI in multi-brand retail, Panda said, "One of the clauses in it is that it has been left to the state government to decide on it. We will see how that goes. But let us see whether the policy itself is implemented or not."