New Delhi, Sept 21: Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had "re-defined democracy" by turning the Indian government into a "government for the foreigners, by the foreigners and of the foreigners".
The Gujarat Chief Minister took on the PM over his government’s decision to allow 51 per cent FDI in multi-brand retail and illegal immigration along India’s Northeast border.
Criticising the 51 per cent FDI in retail, Modi said that the move would throw the domestic traders out of business.
"This central government has kept Parliament in the dark. It has broken promises to the people. You brought in FDI in retail. Now foreigners will sell pens, pencils, notebooks in the country, leaving local traders helpless and the people unemployed," he said.
He continued, "Abraham Lincoln had given a definition of democracy... ’government of the people, for the people and by the people’. Manmohan Singh’s definition is ’government of foreigners, by foreigners and for foreigners’."
He further questioned the PM who is an Member of Parliament from the Northeast, saying, "In the Northeast itself, illegal Bangladeshis have flooded the Indian territory and are causing problems."