Will get other parties on board on FDI: BJP

The BJP on Thursday said that it will coordinate with other political parties to force the government to rollback its decision to allow FDI in retail.

"We will not allow FDI in retail to become a reality. We will coordinate with other political parties in Parliament to force the government to rollback its decision," BJP president Nitin Gadkari said while inaugurating the party's two-day national council meet here.

With the TMC pulling out of the government on the issue, Gadkari's announcement spelt out another battle line against the government in the next session of Parliament.

Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley asserted the party's commitment to reforms and highlighted Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led NDA's approach as the way forward. "The BJP's commitment to reforms is a commitment to reforms which are in national interest. The NDA had established that economic reforms are an art of possible. All it needs is leadership and credibility," Jaitley said, charging that the government has "ignored" many mutually agreeable "domestic economic reforms" because it lacked "capability and credibility".

Jaitley reasoned that foreign-backed retail will mean job loss in the manufacturing sector. International retailers source goods globally and that will benefit countries like China and lead to further job loss, as it does not create additional jobs but replaces the existing ones, he said. He said that fragmented retail markets benefit consumers while consolidated retail reduces consumers' choices.

ALSO READ

Pawan Bansal gave 'illegal favours' as minister for water resources

No one can influence process to fill the Railway Board posts: Pawan Bansal

Anti-Church article in BJP magazine shows split in Sangh Parivar

HC orders 3-phase rural polls in Bengal