New Delhi: Veteran BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi has expressed concerns over the Union government ignoring issues raised by an RSS-affiliated organization against the Flipkart-Walmart deal.
The octogenarian leader who has been marginalised in the party ranks along with LK Advani, was speaking at a discussion hosted by Swadeshi Jagran Manch on the issues arising out of the Flipkart-Walmart deal.
The Sangh-affiliate has taken strong opposition to the tie-up between the American retail chain and India's biggest e-commerce platform.
“There were several letters written to the commerce ministry on the down sides of the deal but no heed was paid to them. The government should not have let the deal happen,” said Joshi.
Joshi called the entry of foreign companies into domestic market a "threat to domestic players".
“We all know the bad history of Walmart in terms of cheating people. They are looking for data that can be very easily misused,” added Joshi.
The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) had on Friday referred a complaint of the RSS-affiliated Swadeshi Jagaran Manch (SJM) on the $16 billion Walmart-Flipkart deal to the RBI, the Enforcement Directorate, the CCI and the Income Tax Department.
The Sangh’s economic offshoot SJM had alleged that US retail giant Walmart was “circumventing” rules for a “back-door entry” into India with its majority stake acquisition of Flipkart.
The SJM's co-convener Ashwani Mahajan had also written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, asking him to ensure that interests of those at the bottom of the pyramid in retail and agriculture space were safeguarded.
The letter came on the same day when Walmart Inc acquired 77 percent stake in Flipkart and a copy of it was dispatched to the Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu. A similar letter was also sent to the DIPP Secretary Ramesh Abhishek.
The RSS-affiliated organization had also prepared a report to suggest alternative ways to revive Air India as it had expressed its reservation over the current form of the disinvestment and had sought to explore other options.
The report was also presented to Prabhu. The Maharaja did not find any takers till the deadline for bidding ended.
BJP’s seniormost leaders Joshi and LK Advani have been made members of Marg Darshak Mandal, which has never met since its inception.
Joshi’s invite comes at a time when the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) party is gearing up for 2019 Lok Sabha polls. The RSS-affiliate, including senior leader Joshi, in the election year assumes significance in key policy reform issues.
Comments
0 comment