Pointing out that all the political parties, with the sole exception of the Congress, were opposed to the entry of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the retail sector, Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Prakash Karat said here on Sunday that the decision was rushed through due to the growing criticism of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the West.
“Dr. Manmohan Singh is more sensitive to pressures and criticism from outside … What is said in Washington and London is more important to the Prime Minister than the interests of the people in this country,” Mr. Karat told journalists, adding that one of the issues on which the Prime Minister was being criticised was FDI in retail.
Coal scam
On Coalgate, he said the Left parties had already called for a probe to investigate the Prime Minister’s role in allocation of coal blocks.
“Today if he and his government think they can get away with such anti-national, anti-people policies, he is mistaken,” Mr. Karat said, adding that eight political parties have called a countrywide protest on September 20 and that in the coming days the protests against these measures would be intensified.
He termed the Centre’s decision to leave the implementation of FDI in retail to the States as “ridiculous.”
“This is the first time we are hearing this great concern for the States’ rights by this government … Suddenly they are saying, ‘We are not imposing it, it depends on the States’.”
He pointed out that only the Congress-ruled States had accepted the Centre’s decision so far.
Mr. Karat said the Left would continue the struggle to ensure that “not a single Walmart supermarket or Tesco or any other MNC sets up shop in any of these States.”
He was also critical of the recent diesel price hike and the decision to restrict the number of subsidised LPG cylinders.
The Congress-led government’s claim that the oil companies were making losses was false, he alleged and said there was need to revise the taxation structure to lessen the burden on the people.
Keywords: FDI in retail, Manmohan Singh government, western influence, Karat remarks, coalscam, UPA scams
This is a blatant exaggeration. Any thinking person in India can
easily see the economic sense behind the reforms. It is not in the
interest of the West, but in India's interest.
Would you rather our sovereign rating was downgraded to "junk", thus
shutting off foreign investment and borrowing, and also see the fiscal
deficit get uncontrollable, leading to massive inflation, unemployment
and a virtual roll back of our growth story? Get real. These same
parties were against LPG in 1991 too, and see how it helped India push
ahead in the world.
When computer first came to Kerala, the Left led the agitation against it; they broke a lot of PCs. 15 years later, the same person in the opposition, became the CM of Kerala and he laid the stone for the IT park. This being done, after all the IT development was tapped by other states. Somebody right said, the Left thinks 15 years behind.
When Manmohan opened up India's economy in 1992, there was lot hulabulla... nothing happened. In UPA-1, Congress took a stand in nuclear cooperation with America, Left cricticised and they lost more seats. Now, again PM has taken the risk and opened the markets, c'mon dont cricticize him for being pro-west.
If Manmohan Singh never cared for India, then he wouldn't even be sitting as PM; even un-educated people ridiculing him in Lok Sabha.
He might be under oath to speak, respond and react only to western connections of his. When 1 billion citizens cry foul over the evident, proven and court approved scams he does not even blip, forget about clarifying and correcting. But when western businessman or magazine writes about PM, his office wastes all energy to justify their own laziness (and PMs) even in responding to a simple request for interview.
Manmohan Singh fragility and ineptitude has made a charade of our political system. Decisions are left in cold when they are required the most, inability to weather the storm from allies and being a mute spectator to limitless unearthing of scams has tarnished his image.
BJP is a national party and has a significant presence in the country. It has therefore a right
to demand that FDI in multi-brand retail should not be allowed anywhere in the country and
not only in the States ruled by it. The argument that any state government can refuse FDI in
its State does not serve the contention of BJP and other parties that FDI in multi-brand retail
in the country as a whole.
Not just the PM, but also most of the middle-class dominated media. Especially the business school educated, ideologically skewed executives who cannot think independently.
Just to call Manmohan Singh sensitive to western criticism is not sufficient. I my opinion he takes dictations only from the west. He never cared for India or at least Indian public.
Nothing could be more ridiculous than this avatara of an utterly western political philosophy pointing his finger at anyone else's western mentality.
This is the outcome of the current world systems, democratic or non democratic systems, which are based on win or lose basis. This in essence represents the winner,ruler, rules his way. This avoids dialogue and realistic discussions. So we are in essence back to the jungle world, that might is right. People and National interest are secondary. Thanks
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