BJP leader Uma Bharti today threatened to set on fire Walmart store wherever it opens in the country to register her party's protest against allowing Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in retail.
"By giving permission to Walmart to directly invest in the retail sector, the Centre has jeopardised the employment opportunities of Dalits, poor and backwards," she told reporters here.
"I would personally set afire the showroom when it opens anywhere in the country and I am ready to be arrested for the act," Bharti said, condemning the decision of the Union cabinet to allow 51 per cent FDI in multi-brand retail and 100 per cent FDI in single-brand retail.
She said that she had apprised BJP president Nitin Gadkari of her plan of action. Meanwhile, commenting on her remarks, CPI MP Gurudas Dasgupta said, "This is crazy talk...this is not the way... Having been a member of Parliament, can she speak like this?"
"Economic liberalisation has snatched employment opportunities of about 90 per cent of the poor people and benefited only 10 per cent," Bharti said.
Meanwhile, Trade Minister Anand Sharma maintained on Friday that the government's new policy to allow foreign supermarkets into the country would create 10 million jobs over three years, while not affecting smaller, domestic retailers.
The government on Thursday approved 51 per cent foreign direct investment in the supermarket sector, paving the entry of firms such as Wal-Mart, Tesco and Carrefour into one of the world's largest untapped markets.
RBI has high hopes
RBI governor Duvvuri Subbarao also was optimistic about the development saying India's growth story is still 'credible' and the move to open up the economy to global supermarket chains will help growth and control inflation,
"It's commendable that government has taken the initiative. Let's hope that it will improve the logistics chain and supply chain management in agriculture," Subbarao said in a speech in Chandigarh.
"It's important for not only raising overall growth but also important for containing inflation and improving quality of life over 50 per cent of population," Subbarao said.
The RBI chief said that inflation needs to be brought down to 5 per cent initially and then even lower, consistent with India's integration with global economy.
Subbarao said the current inflation situation is a consequence of both supply shocks and demand pressures.