Agra markets join shutdown against FDI in retail

Markets in Agra wore a deserted look Thursday as shopkeepers joined the nationwide shutdown to protest Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the retail sector

All opposition parties supported the shutdown. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Samajwadi Party workers requested shopkeepers to pull down their shutters in the morning.

The Uttar Pradesh Vyapar Pratinidhi Mandal also supported the stir.

BJP corporator Kundika Sharma announced at a meeting that she and some other women activists would self-immolate outside United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi's residence in New Delhi if the central government didn't rollback the move.

But SAVDHAN, another organisation representing the businessmen of the city, said the protest was uncalled for and unnecessary because the central government has said it was for the states to take appropriate action, and the policy would not be thrust upon them.