Take Sonia's caution on FDI in retail seriously: Left to govt

New Delhi, Feb 6 (UNI) While welcoming UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi's ''positive policy intervention'' on FDI in the retail sector, the Left parties today hoped that this would not turn out to be a ''mere poll-eve gimmick'' as the issue involved the livelihood of over 40 million small traders.

They said the UPA Chairperson should also impress upon the Manmohan Singh government that FDI in the retail sector was against the spirit of the the CMP and would ''alienate'' the Congress at the ground level.

Talking to UNI, CPI leaders A B Bardhan and Shamim Faizi said this was ''the second time that the Congress President had cautioned the UPA government on unbridled economic reforms''.

''The Left parties hope that Ms Gandhi's cautionary stance is not a mere poll-eve gimmick,'' the CPI leaders said, while recalling that despite the UPA chairperson's words of caution on the SEZ policy, the government had sanctioned hundreds of SEZs.

''Now it is for her to think of hauling up the government or else the Congress should get ready to pay a heavy price for this unbridled globalisation and liberalisation.'' According to media reports, the Congress president has asked the Manmohan Singh to only make any forward movement in opening up of the retail sector to FDI after examining the impact of the decision on the livelihood security of those engaged in small-scale operations.

Mr Bardhan said the Left had voiced its concern on the issue in the beginning also when the government had decided to allow FDI in a single brand. ''Recently the government had agreed to allow FDI through giant ventures... Wall-Mart had been permitted to put up shops in collaboration with Bharti Enterprises.'' Senior CPI(M) leaders M K Pandhe and Brinda Karat said the Left parties had been consistent in their opposition to the opening of the retail sector which employed more than 40 million small traders.

While Ms Karat said it was ''high time that the government reversed'' the decision on allowing FDI in single brand and put an end to the whole process, Mr Pandhe said Ms Gandhi was trying to safeguard the interests of her own party as ''she knew very well that FDI in this sector would further alienate it from the masses''.

''A section of the Congress feels very strongly that unbridled FDI, globalisation and liberalisation will leave the party in doldrums,'' Mr Pandhe, who is also CITU president, said.

Forward Bloc national secretary G Devarajan said, ''We welcome Ms Gandhi's intervention but it must be sincere and not motivated by political reasons particularly when the assembly polls in Punjab and Uttarakhand are around the corner.'' Mr Devrajan said it was possible that the Congress had realised that it would have to change its position in the aftermath of the party's debacle in Maharashtra civic polls.

UNI