New Delhi: Protests by political parties against Walmart-Flipkart deal intensify

Some odd 50-60 members of the AAP’s trade wing protested against the multi-billion dollar deal in the Chandni Chowk area of Old Delhi on Saturday and said that it will further add to their woes.

NEW DELHI: The latest political party to join the protest bandwagon against the Walmart-Flipkart deal is Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). Some odd 50-60 members of the AAP’s trade wing protested against the multi-billion dollar deal in the Chandni Chowk area of Old Delhi on Saturday and said that it will further add to their woes.

On May 9, the US-based retail giant Walmart formally announced the acquisition of 77 per cent stake in Flipkart for about $16 billion in the largest e-commerce deal ever. Since then, retailers and affiliate trade wings of political parties have been complaining that it will kill millions of jobs and eventually shut down small retailers as they won’t be able to compete on product pricing with Walmart.

“The Walmart-Flipkart deal is immoral, illegal, and will kill crores of Indian retailers. People liked Flipkart because it was Indian and gave it an edge over Amazon. Now it has sold itself to an American brand, it has shattered our trust,” a member of RSS-linked Swadeshi Jagran Manch said during a protest on Thursday. SJM said the deal is against national interests, will hurt PM’s Make in India initiative.

“Last one-and-a-half years have been bad for small business houses. First demonetisation, then GST, followed by ceiling, and now this deal. If Walmart can invest $16 billion in just acquiring Flipkart, it can spend double than that to make profits. It will be dangerous for small brands,” said a member of AAP’s trade wing.When pointed out that the deal is already done, a few protesting retailers said they want stricter FDI norms in place and security against predatory pricing policy of these giants.

Many opposition parties criticised the government of double standards. “When in Opposition, the BJP also opposed this move. Now in government, the BJP is facilitating the entry of foreign capital through the e-commerce route,” CPI(M) said in a statement. The Left party said this would destroy the retail trade sector, which directly employs more than four crore people.

Not much affected by the protests, Walmart, in a statement, said it will create 10 million jobs in India and raise farmers Income. Flipkart, in an internal mail, said that the $500 billion Walmart would not kill its existing vendors by selling its product at ultra-low prices.