Attempts on for 'back door entry' of Walmart in Chennai: DMK
Key UPA constituent DMK, which supported Centre in the FDI vote in Parliament, today said attempts are on to provide "back-door entry" to global retail giant Walmart in the state even as Chief Minister Jayalalithaa had opposed FDI in multi-brand retail in the state.
The DMK's Executive, which met here under party chief M Karunanidhi, said reports had suggested Walmart was in the process of establishing a commercial complex at Vanagaram near Chennai and a marketing office at the prime location of Anna Nagar, which fall in the "state of domain" of Jayalalithaa.
While the Chief Minister has firmly announced her government would not allow FDI in the state, "there have been reports that the firm is offering (local) provision shops products at cheap rates and make them (its) members. Those in the government are sharing no information over the veracity of these reports", a resolution passed at the meeting said.
"This Executive insists that government probe the matter immediately and take efforts to ensure Walmart did not enter Tamil Nadu" it said.
The party reiterated it had stood by the Manmohan Singh-led government on the FDI issue to ensure its stability and keep communal forces at bay but some persons were creating an image as if DMK supported FDI.
Without mentioning anyone in particular, it said "while claiming to help small traders, big firms like Walmart are being offered back-door entry to do business in Tamil Nadu," and condemned this.
DMK's voting in favour of Government in Parliament included factors like keeping "communal" BJP or its supported government at bay and avoiding subsequent implications,besides Tamil Nadu government's decision to not implement FDI, the Executive said.
DMK, which has 18 Lok Sabha MPs, reasoned it supported UPA on the FDI vote for its stability and deny communal forces from exploiting the situation.
Among others, the DMK decided to stage state-wide protest on December 18 against prevailing power load-shedding.
It also urged the Jayalalithaa government to convene an all-party meeting to discuss the Cauvery stand-off with Karnataka and asked it not to blame the previous DMK regime or the Centre for the current crisis.
The Executive also alleged that law and order situation was not good in the state.
On the Sri Lankan Tamils issue, the DMK Executive alleged that "atrocities" against Tamils continued even now, including a spate of arrests of students. It also expressed concern over recurring incidents of attacks on Indian fishermen hailing from the state.
"In this situation, the Centre should think whether the Indian Army should even now remain a spectator to these atrocities to play an important role, amounting to warning Sri Lanka, and in the UN and and come forward to uphold the rights of the rest of the Tamils," it resolved.
