Indian govt lambasted; urged to scrap law

India's government faced a test of its ability to survive as a minority administration yesterday as opposition lawmakers slammed its decision to allow in foreign supermarket giants such as Walmart.
In a stormy debate ahead of a vote expected today, the Congress-led ruling coalition was lambasted by critics, including MPs from the Kolkata-based Trinamool party that walked out of the government in September over the policy.
Sushma Swaraj, the fiery leader of the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), told parliament that moves to open up the retail sector represented "a ditch of destruction" for farmers, shop owners and consumers.
"Please fight for Indians, not foreigners," Swaraj said, appealing to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to drop the reforms.
The Congress party believes it has the numbers to win a vote in the lower house, and hopes that victory will enable it to push ahead with further contentious reforms to tackle India's slowing economy.
Parliament had been deadlocked during the current winter session, with opposition MPs holding protests to demand the vote, even though the reform requires only cabinet approval and has already been declared law.