Akhilesh in favour of FDI in retail?

Contrary to his father Mulayam Singh Yadav's view, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav today said that his party would support foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail if it benefitted farmers and manufacturing sector in India. The statement came as a surprise since SP Chief had recently written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and said that the government should not consider opening up the multi-brand retail sector to foreign direct investment. The government had allowed FDI in single brand retailing but had suspended the decision to allow such investment in multi-brand retailing due to opposition from several parties including UPA allies.