Capt Amarinder raps Badal’s U turn on FDI in retail

Friday, 02/12/2011

http://my.amarindersingh.in/capt-amarinder-raps-badal%E2%80%99s-u-turn-on-fdi-in-retail

Lashing out at the Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal’s U-turn on the foreign direct investment (FDI) in retail sector, Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee President Capt Amarinder Singh today said that inconsistency was the hallmark of his (Mr Badal’s) character and it was repeatedly being reflected in his behaviour. He pointed out, it was not for the first time that Mr Badal had taken a U-turn on an important issue as he had done the same thing at the time of Indo-US Nuclear Deal.

Reacting to Mr Badal’s telephone call to the BJP leader Mr Arun Jaitely wherein he said, that the Akali Dal had made a mistake by supporting the FDI, the PCC President remarked, “it is typical of Mr Badal changing his political decision at the drop of a hat to suit his personal interests”. He said, even during the time of Indo-US Nuclear Deal, Mr Badal had first decided to support the bill and backed out instantly after being snubbed by the BJP.

The former Chief Minister pointed out, only recently Mr Badal’s Deputy Chief Minister son Sukhbir Badal, who is also the president of the Akali Dal had written to the commerce minister thereby supporting and appreciating the FDI in retail and now Mr Badal was himself saying that they had committed a mistake.

“Whom should we believe, you, who are opposing the FDI now or your son who only recently wrote a long letter to the union Commerce Minister therein supporting the FDI”, Capt Amarinder asked Mr Badal, while adding, this was reflective of the confusion prevailing within the Akali Dal and the Badal family that father did not know what the son was doing and the Chief Minister did not know what his party president was doing. Capt Amarinder pointed out, today Mr Badal told Mr Jaitely that they made a mistake and he should tell Sukhbir what they (the BJP) want them to do, while only a few days earlier, Sukhbir wrote to union commerce minister Anand Sharma saying, “we strongly believe that opening FDI in multi-brand retail will bring in the expertise, experience and resources of foreign retailers. A major beneficiary of back-end investments would be farmers, who will gain substantially through agricultural best-practices of international retail companies, thus improving the quality and quantity of their yield, and will also get better remuneration.”

“That is typical of Badals”, he remarked, while adding, “they can change colours like a chameleon to suit their political compulsions and expediencies within no time”.