BJP had supported FDI in 2004, says MP Congress MLA

Bhopal, Dec 1: The issue of FDI in retail sector figured in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly on Thursday, with Congress protesting state BJP's support to nationwide bandh against it, and pointing out that the saffron party had supported FDI in 2004.

The matter was raised in the zero hour by Ashwin Joshi of Congress, but the Speaker Ishwardas Rohani said that due to the paucity of time, it was being "construed as read" in the house.

Tulsi Silawat (Congress) also protested against BJP's opposition to FDI, but by then the Speaker had moved on to the next business item.

Later, Joshi said the support to bandh call had exposed BJP's "double standard".

In its 2004 manifesto, BJP had supported allowing 26 per cent FDI in the retail sector, Joshi said, adding that Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan was then a member of the manifesto committee.

The Congress legislator also pointed out that Bharti Walmart's Best Price Store already had an outlet in Madhya Pradesh.

PTI