Has Centre got dual policy on FDI in retail sector?: Brinda

Ranchi: Slamming the Centre, the CPI(M) on Sunday asked the Manmohan Singh government if it had a "dual policy" on FDI in the retail sector.

"In Parliament, the Centre said it would not move forward in FDI till a consensus is evolved through discussions. In Davos, Union Commerce Minister Anand Sharma told a Walmart representative that it had only pressed the pause button. Has the Centre got a dual policy on FDI in retail?" CPI(M) Politburo member Brinda Karat asked at a press conference here.

Sharma had on Friday "assured" global Walmart and Metro that the reforms agenda was well on course and the decision to put on hold FDI in multi-brand retail was "just a pause", forced by "compulsions of coalition politics".

Accusing the Congress and the BJP of following wrong policies and trying to give land to big companies, she said "The Left will launch agitation against land grabbing by any government, particularly in Jharkhand, to hand over to big companies."

She also demanded that Jharkhand should empower members of the three-tier panchayat system in the state "instead of keeping powers with officials and legislators at the grassroots."