Uma Bharti threatens to set Wal-Mart stores afire when they open

BJP leader Uma Bharti yesterday threatened to set fire to Walmart any store wherever it opened in the country to register her party's protest against allowing foreign direct investment (FDI) in retail.

"By giving permission to Walmart to directly invest in the retail sector, the Centre has jeopardised the employment opportunities of Dalits, poor and backwards," she told reporters in New Delhi.

"I would personally set afire the showroom when it opens anywhere in the country and I am ready to be arrested for the act," Bharti said, condemning the decision of the union cabinet to allow 51 per cent FDI in multi-brand retail and 100 per cent FDI in single-brand retail.

Expressing her strong displeasure against Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi, she accused them of shedding crocodile tears in poll-bound UP and expressing "fake anger".

"I too feel angry at the central and state governments," she said.

If Rahul had any concern for the plight of Dalits, poor and backwards, he would ask the prime minister to stop Walmart she said.
Economic liberalisation had deprived 90 per cent of the poor of the employment opportunities while benefiting only 10 per cent, she added.