Surajkund (Haryana), Sep 27 (IANS) The BJP Thursday came out strongly against foreign equity in multi-brand retail, saying the party will force the government to roll back its decision.
While party leader Arun Jaitley described it as going "against the grain of the country", BJP president Nitin Gadkari said the party was determined to force the government to take back the decision.
"We organised a successful Bharat Bandh on the issue. We will call all political parties and force the government to roll it back," said Gadkari, addressing the party's National Council.
Claiming that the government seemed to be more concerned about the foreign retail giant Walmart than farmers and small traders, he said the move will affect livelihood of 12 crore street vendors.
Jaitley said the BJP was not opposed to reforms but every change is not a reform and some changes may end up hurting national interest.
The National Council passed a resolution rejecting FDI in multibrand retail saying while it will cut the manufacturing sector jobs, no new jobs will be created in the retail segment.
The government says the move to do away with middlemen in the supply chain will benefit the farmers.
"This is a myth," said Jaitley, adding the benefit would instead go to the foreign retailer.
"International retail will be harmful for job creation in India," he said. "International retail doesn't create additional jobs but merely displaces existing ones."
He said the government's argument that FDI in multibrand retail would create back-end operations such as cold chains and rural roads was faulty.
Separately, Gadkari asked partymen not to touch any colleague's feet in order to go up the party ladder.
Concerned over infighting in various state units and at nationally, he urged party workers to come together.
He said the BJP needs to change its image so that it could move from being "a party of opposition to a party of good governance".
The party will unveil its India Vision 2025 document by year end, he added.
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