FDI unites 10,000 farmer, trader bodies against UPA govt.

The protest against the government’s decision to allow FDI in multi-brand retail will take a political colour as the Khudra FDI Virodhi Rashtriya Morcha (KFVRM) has decided to mobilise the whole country’s traders, farmers and labourers to vote against the UPA government in the 2014 Lok sabha elections.

The association claims to have a support base of more than 10,000 small and big farmers and traders association on the issue.

“We plan to go to all the constituencies before the next Lok Sabha elections and convince people to vote against all those parties that voted or conspired to pass the FDI in multi-brand retail in the parliament,” said Praveen Khandelwal, secretary general at Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT).

The movement will also seek the support of the political parties that are opposed to the government’s decision to open FDI for multi-brand retail. The government has been claiming that it had opened the gates for FDI in the retail sector only after taking in confidence the farmers’ interest groups. However, the various farmers associations have challenged the claim.

The government had managed to win the vote on FDI in multi-brand retail in parliament last week.

The KFVRM is an umbrella organisation that will be launched on 1st January 2013. Questioning wide differences between the actual notification by the ministry of commerce and industry and the policy document discussed in the document, Khandelwal accused the commerce minister Anand Sharma of misguiding the country.

He also said the government’s claim that all the parties were consulted before notifying the policy on FDI in multi-brand retail was also not true.


Source : dnaindia.com