NEW DELHI: FDI in
multi-brand retail today got the approval of the Lok Sabha as the
opposition motion seeking immediate withdrawal of the decision was rejected
convincingly as BSP and SP walked out.
218 voted in favour
of the opposition motion, while 253 voted against it in the House where 471
members participated in the voting. The total strength of the House is 545.
The House also
rejected the motion seeking amendment to the rules notified by the Reserve
Bank under Foreign Exchange Management Act (Fema) to enable FDI in
multi-brand retail.
While 254 voted in
favour of the government, 224 were against.
Members of SP and
BSP, with respective strength of 22 and 21, did not participate in the
voting as they walked out alleging that interests of farmers and small
retailers had been ignored.
The victory of the
government after two days of heated debate was immediately hailed by Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi.
"FDI policy
that we have put in place has the approval of this House (Lok Sabha),"
said Singh, who is a member of Rajya Sabha but was present during the
voting in the Lower House.
This was after a gap
of many years that an executive decision of the government was put to vote
in Parliament.
Earlier, replying to
the discussion, commerce minister Anand Sharma dismissed the opposition
charge that the move would hurt small traders and farmers and that the
government has rushed the decision.
He said the decision
was not taken overnight and deliberations were held with chief ministers
and other stake holders like association of farmers, consumer organizations
and representatives of the food processing industry.
Leader of the
opposition Sushma Swaraj, who had moved the motion, maintained that
majority of the House was against FDI in retail which was reflected in
speeches of leaders of different political parties.
Swaraj said going by
speeches in the debate on FDI, leaders of various parties which extended support
in favour of the motion and against bringing FDI in multi-brand retail had
282 votes and those against it had 224 votes.
She said 22 leaders
of 18 parties participated in the debate on FDI in multi-brand retail of
which 14 spoke in its favour.
"I wanted the
thought to be converted into vote that will be engraved in the history of
Lok Sabha," Swaraj said, lamenting that this did not seem happening as
some parties like SP and BSP which vehemently opposed the entry of FDI in
retail had already walked out to avoid voting on the issue.
While seeking to
reach out to wider opposition camp, she said it was not a vote on communal
or secular lines but about the interest of the country.
After the voting,
she told reporters that the government "won technically but lost on
moral grounds."
The commerce
minister said out of 21 states which responded to the Centre's
communication on the issue, 11 supported in writing the move to open
multi-brand retail.
Only 7 states
opposed the proposal, while few sought clarifications, he said, adding that
he personally met Punjab chief minister Prakash Singh Badal, Odisha chief
minister Naveen Patnaik and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee.
In the backdrop of
the federal structure of the country, he said, the Centre decided to leave
the final decision on states whether to allow foreign investment in retail.
"No one can
take away the right of an elected government to take decision", he
said adding the decision was taken after discussions with the stakeholders.
"Consensus
means general agreement and not unanimity," he said.
Participating in the
debate, BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi said his party was for "retail
democracy and not retail dictatorship" and warned that people would
not tolerate such an action.
Noting that retail
giant Wal-Mart had indulged in corrupt practices in several countries,
Joshi said the government need not promote their interest but work in the
interest of farmers and workers.
He rejected
government's contention that foreign investment in retail would benefit
farmers and increase competition.
He told the UPA,
"apni gardan aap katwayen, magar desh ki gardan mat katwayen" (if
you want to sacrifice your head for the sake of FDI in retail, please do,
but do not sacrifice the interest of the nation for it).
Deepender Hooda
(Cong) sought to embarrass BJP by referring to Purti Group, a company run
by BJP president Nitin Gadkari, and said it was into multi-brand retail in
a big way. In this context, he questioned why BJP was opposing this
government decision.
Hooda, son of
Haryana chief minister, said he wanted to assure foreign companies like
McDonald's and Pepsico and if they were not getting respect in BJP-ruled
Gujarat, they could come to Haryana.
He quoted the letter
of Sukhbir Singh Badal, Deputy Chief Minister of Punjab, to Anand Sharma in
2011 that supported FDI in multi-brand retail.
He also read out
from the letter written by the Akali Dal leader who is now opposing the
proposal.
Warning of more
agitations against FDI in retail, senior CPM leader Basudeb Acharia said
while the Left has been consistent in opposing the move, the government has
been "inconsistent throughout".
"The Prime
Minister, as the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha earlier, had written a
letter opposing it. Congress leader P R Dasmunsi had termed it
'anti-national' in this very House. We have been consistent, you are
not," he said.
Praful Patel said
while BJP was opposing FDI in multi-brand retail, the NDA government led by
it had furthered the liberalisation policy initiated by the Congress
government in the 1990s.
He said claims that
FDI would result in an "earthquake" were unfounded and urged
opposition against creating a sense of fear among people.
He claimed that due
to presence of foreign chains like McDonald and KFC, Indian chains like
Bikanerwala and Haldiram have improved their retail infrastructure.
Bhratruhari Mahtab
(BJD) said his party had opposed the move in 2004, in last December and
even today. "It will not help our agriculture and we have
apprehensions that it will give rise to social unrest," he said.
He rejected
government's argument that FDI in retail would create jobs and bring in
additional resources.
Strongly opposing
FDI in multi-brand retail, senior CPI leader Gurudas Dasgupta said there is
pressure from multi-nationals and the Prime Minister is even ready to
sacrifice the government to implement the proposal.
Dasgupta said
allowing FDI in multi-brand retail would result in a scenario of
"giants (MNCs) versus pygmies (domestic retailers)" and there
cannot be growth.
Anant Geete (Shiv
Sena) too opposed the move and said the government, by allowing it, was
inviting the East India Company.
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