FDI in retail indicative of colonial mindset: Rajnath Singh

Hitting out at the UPA, former BJP national president Rajnath Singh today said that the decision to permit FDI in retail was indicative of the colonial mindset of the Congress. "Policies of the Congress-led UPA government were already under suspicion from the beginning, now there is a question mark on their intention as well," he told reporters here.

Claiming that the Congress party was akin to the British rulers, who considered India a colony and not a country, Singh said, "This is the reason that whatever decisions are being taken, they are being taken with the colonial mindset. All policy decisions are result of this colonial mindset".

The former UP chief minister said the government claims that its fiscal deficit was increasing rapidly and to reduce it, it has permitted FDI in retail. "I want to ask that if the government was so concerned about its fiscal deficit, then why serious efforts are not being made to bring back black money stashed in foreign banks."

Alleging that the decision to permit FDI was taken by keeping even the allies in the dark and that it was a contempt of Parliament, the senior BJP leader said, "It's the clear resolve of BJP that it would not allow anyone to take the country towards economic slavery."

Charging the prime minister with taking the FDI decision in haste to improve his international image, he referred to the recent articles published in some international magazines to say that "the PM is concerned about his international image, but he is not concerned that what his image is in the country."

When his party comes to power, an inquiry would be conducted into the circumstances that have forced the present government to go in contempt of the assurance it has given in the parliament on FDI in retail. About the government's logic that 'FDI entry would generate one crore jobs', Singh questioned what about the four crore people associated with the retail in the country.

"This government has signed a bilateral agreement with 82 countries, under which it is mandatory to provide level playing field to foreign investors. The states won't have any say in it," he said.

On rise in diesel price, the BJP leader said that the government logic that it was due to rising crude oil price and losses to oil PSUs was wrong.