The Left is upbeat after UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi wrote a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, expressing concern over foreign direct investment (FDI) in retail sector.Reacting to the letter, CPI leader D Raja said to The Indian Express, “We have been protesting against FDI in retail. Now, it seems that there is a consensus in the Congress too against letting FDI in this sector.” Raja added, “We have been telling the government for a long time now that the FDI in retail can’t be allowed at any cost.”The Left parties have been protesting against the decision of Wal-Mart’s plan to set up shop in India in collaboration with the Bharti group. The government had rejected the objection on the ground that the entry was in conformity with the FDI norms. Though the CPI(M) has not officially reacted to the letter, the party has been at the forefront of protests against the FDI in retail, and also in hitting out at the efforts to let the Wal-Mart enter through the “backdoor”. The party has been also opposing the move of the government in retail through “single brands and sports goods”, saying it was an effort to get FDI in through the backdoor.“The Government has been trying to let the FDI in retail sector through the backdoor, and we have been opposing such devious moves of government in retail sector. But no comments on the letter,” CPI(M) politburo member Brinda Karat told The Indian Express.In fact, the note Left parties submitted to the government on FDI in retail in November 2005 in the context of “Multinational retail chains like the Wal-Mart lobbying with the government in this regard” said that “allowing FDI in retail trade would have a negative impact on the already grim domestic employment scenario.”Since employment generation is the cornerstone of the Common Minimum Programme of the UPA, inviting foreign capital in sectors, which would have a debilitating impact on domestic employment, would go against the spirit of the CMP, the Left parties maintained.“Creating more jobs is a commitment in the Common Minimum Programme and letting the FDI in this sector is against the very spirit of this movement”, said K V Devarajan, national general secretary of the All India Forward Bloc.
