UPA committing 'harakiri' on FDI in retail issue: LK Advani

Government is "gravely mistaken" if it feels that it can shift focus from corruption with its decision on FDI in multi-brand retail, BJP leader LK Advani on Saturday said and warned that it was committing "harakiri".

Advani also attacked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as the Coal Ministry was with him when the controversial coal blocks allocation was done, saying it "has made 'Coalgate' a fitting climax for exposure of the series of scams starting with the 2G and Commonwealth scams of 2008."

He said the government's decision to allow 51% FDI in multi-brand retail comes at a time when the coal scam was in focus across the country was viewed by some as a "desperate bid" to shift the focus of debate from corruption to 'reforms'.

"If government really thinks so, it is gravely mistaken," Advani said on his blog on Saturday, adding that the decision was taken on a day when the Supreme Court has put six pertinent questions to government about this coal scandal.

"The FDI in retail issue may actually prove for UPA nothing other than Harakiri (self destructive)," Advani said.

The BJP leader said, "The judiciary, the CAG and the opposition in Parliament, together with the media, have ensured that the corruption issue continues to dominate the people's mind until the next Lok Sabha elections."

He also hoped that the Congress will be decimated in the next Lok Sabha elections, claiming that the BJP will be the "biggest beneficiary".

"I sincerely hope that just as the 1977 election results have guaranteed that no government hereafter will think lightly of abusing the Emergency Article 352 again, the outcome of the forthcoming Assembly as well as Lok Sabha polls will make politicians realise the heavy cost they have to pay if their hands are seen by the electorate as sullied by corruption," he wrote on his blog.