The meeting will be hosted by the Confederation of All India Traders, said Praveen Khandelwal, the secretary general of the traders’ body.

He said it would be attended by amongst others BJP president Rajnath Singh, CPI general secretary A.B. Bardhan, National Democratic Alliance convenor George Fernandes and Janata Dal (United) president Sharad Yadav.

Others who would attend include BJP leader V.K. Malhotra, Akali Dal (Badal) leader Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, Samajwadi party MP B.L. Kanchal and Bahujan Samaj Party leader Sudhir Goel.

Khandelwal said: ‘With senior leaders believing in divergent political ideologies attending the meeting, the ongoing movement against entry of corporate houses into retail trading will get a significant boost.’

‘It is heartening for us that the left and the right wing of the Indian polity will show their solidarity on the issue of entry of corporate houses into retail trade, which has a direct bearing on the livelihood of millions of people,’ Khandelwal said.

‘The entry of corporate houses into vast retail trade here in India is neither essential nor legitimate and is an attempt to capture and monopolise the retail trade,’ he said.

Khandelwal said, ‘entry of corporate houses into retail trading will not only render millions of people in India unemployed but also pose a serious threat to the livelihood of petty traders, farmers, labourers, hawkers and other sections of the population dependent upon retail trading’.

Source : PTI