Govt ready to probe Wal-Mart lobbying issue

The government has said that it is ready to probe the

Wal-Mart lobbying report. Parliamentary affairs minister Kamal Nath has said the government is also concerned about the disclosure and is open to an inquiry to know the truth. Yesterday, a united Opposition had demanded an inquiry and reply from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on reports of Wal-Mart spending huge money to lobby for entry into the Indian market. Forcing two adjournments in the Rajya Sabha before lunch, members from BJP, CPI-M, CPI, SP, JD-U, Trinamool Congress, AGP and AIADMK said the measure should be withdrawn as “corruption” has come to fore now because lobbying is illegal in India.

Raising the issue during Zero Hour, Ravishankar Prasad (BJP) said apprehensions were raised earlier also about Wal-Mart spending huge money to lobby for entering the Indian market, which has now been proved true. “Wal-Mart has in its lobbying disclosure report to the US Senate said it has spent Rs 125 crores on lobbying and three million dollars (Rs 16 crores) have been spent in 2012 itself for entering the Indian market.

“Lobbying is illegal in India. Lobbying is a kind of bribe. If Wal-Mart has said that hundreds of crores of rupees were spent in India, then it is a kind of bribe. Government should tell who was given this bribe. This raises a question mark on the implementation of FDI in retail,” Prasad said. He was supported by members from other opposition parties