Centre blasts Kejriwal on FDI decision

An angry Centre on Tuesday hit out at the Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government for reversing the decision to allow foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail and termed the move  “irresponsible”.

“India is not a banana republic where policy decisions can be reversed,” Sharma said terming the Delhi government decision to disallow FDI in multi-brand retail “abrupt, irresponsible and ill-considered”.

The ministry, he said, will examine the communication of the newly installed Aam Aadmi Party-led Delhi government on reversing the earlier decision of the state to allow foreign direct investment policy in multi-brand retail trading. 

Sharma said the Centre would also examine whether a minority government with outside support could reverse such decisions.

The AAP government was formed after eight Congress MLAs extended outside support to Kejriwal to form the government in the national capital territory.

Sharma said the Delhi government led by the then chief minister Sheila Dikshit had approved the policy and issued a gazette notification. “Ideologies apart, flip-flops on policy decisions like retail FDI signal instability and can hurt the nation at large in the long run,” Congress leader Milind Deora said on micro-blogging site Twitter.

Delhi Congress chief Arvinder Singh Lovely claimed there was no legal backing for the decision of the Kejriwal government.

“We will call for a discussion on the matter in the Delhi Assembly,” he said.