Around 7,00,000 traders, workers and farmers are likely to join the nationwide protest called on July 2 against the recently concluded Walmart-Flipkart deal, reported Business Standard.

The protest will see participation from the Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM), a number of farmer rights bodies and smaller trader unions, reported BS on Thursday.

“As many as 1,000 simultaneous protests are planned in which more than 700,000 people are likely to take part”, Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), the organiser of the protest, was quoted by the paper.

A number of petitions were filed by trade bodies in India even before the deal was announced, said the report.

“We demand that the government reject the deal and frame an e-commerce policy and a Regulatory Authority for e-commerce. We are in talks with various other affiliate organisations and on July 2 we will organise massive protests. In every city where protests are held, the district collector will be given a memorandum. In Delhi, we will present a memorandum either to the finance minister or commerce minister,” Praveen Khandelwal, secretary general of CAIT, was quoted by the paper.

The CAIT had earlier filed an objection to the US retail giant's buyout of roughly 77% of Bengaluru-based Flipkart, saying that the deal would create unfair competition and result in predatory pricing.

Ashwani Mahajan, co-convener of the Swadeshi Jagran Manch, who has also opposed the deal, said, “On our complaint, the commerce ministry has already written to all departments, including CCI, to investigate the matter and take action. We have always been against Walmart ever since they tried to enter India via foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail.”

First Published:Jun 28, 2018 9:53 AM IST