By IANS,
New Delhi : Some important quotes of speakers during the Lok Sabha debate on FDI in multi-brand retail and after the Congress-led UPA government won the vote.
Here are the main quotes:
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh: “FDI has approval of the house. We are confident of numbers in the Rajya Sabha.”
NDA convenor and Janata Dal-United leader Sharad Yadav: “You may win this battle… but the future generations will not pardon us. You should reconsider the decision.”
Shiv Sena MP Anant Gangaram Geete: “We will not allow these foreign companies to step foot in Mumbai and neither will the citizens of India let them in… 70 percent of Indians are protesting against FDI (foreign direct investment).”
NCP leader Praful Patel: “FDI in retail is the need of the nation. It will help the nation progress. The apprehensions are uncalled for. We have to move with time. The youth want to move ahead with time and stand on their own feet.”
AIADMK MP M. Thambidurai: “The government’s decision is a rude shock for the large number of traditional small traders.”
CPI leader Gurudas Dasgupta: “Government is ready to sacrifice the country for the cause of Wal-Mart. It is a signal to make India the most favoured destination for foreign multinationals.”
Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad: “They travel in imported cars and wear foreign watches but they say no to FDI in retail. I don’t even keep a cellphone; these people (BJP) keep it next to their heart.”
BJP leader Sushma Swaraj: “Mulayam Singh had appealed to Sonia Gandhi (Congress chief) to withdraw FDI in retail. And he told her: ‘If Mahatma Gandhi, Ram Manohar Lohia and Jai Prakash Narayan were here, FDI would not have come’. But I want to say that if Mulayam Singh had been here (in the house), then FDI would not have come.”
Commerce Minister Anand Sharma: “It is not an overnight decision. We have consulted all the states, political parties, consumer forums and farmers unions.”
Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari: “It was the victory of pragmatism over ideological blinkers.”
BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi: “It was all by arrangement… This is a victory of CBI not FDI.”