Hyderabad: BJP on Sunday accused the Congress-led UPA government of adopting double standards on the issue of FDI in multi-brand retail. "(During the NDA regime), the Congress party and its senior leaders like Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi had opposed the FDI in multi-brand retail. However, the same party and its leaders are now supporting it saying that it would not harm the interests of farmers," BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu said.
Even the UPA government had told Parliament in 2009 that a decision to permit 51 per cent FDI in retail would be suspended until a consensus was reached among various stakeholders, including chief ministers, he added. Seeking Congress' clarification on the issue, Naidu asked, "Is it the policy of the Congress to speak something when out of power and do the opposite when in power? Is it not the brazen opportunism and double standards of the Congress?"
"Is it not a fact that the Congress has not consulted its allies on such a major decision? Is it the way to run the government?," the former BJP chief questioned. "Let the Congress explain its volte-face on the FDI in retail trade and justify its stand," he said. The character of Indian economy is service-oriented and agriculture as well as retail were the largest job providers in the country, he said.
"The fragmented market was always in consumers' interest," Naidu said, adding that a consolidated market restricts consumers' choice and MNCs eliminate competition and exploit consumers. "FDI causes displacement in retail sector and job losses in the manufacturing sector," he said.
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