New Delhi: SP and BSP on Tuesday invoked the name of Mahatma Gandhi in the Lok Sabha during debate on FDI in retail to express their opposition to the policy and insisted that going ahead with its implementation would be an insult to the great leader.
SP Chief Mulayam Singh Yadav said, "You are forgetting the ideology of Gandhi."
Pointing at the BJP, he said they do not respect the views of Gandhi and so he would not appeal to them.
"The second thing is to maintain the importance of Gandhi`s views," he said.
Recalling an incident of the freedom movement, Yadav said when Mahatma Gandhi was setting fire to a piece of foreign cloth and a foreigner asked why he was burning a good piece of cloth, Gandhi maintained he was doing so as Indian weavers were committing suicide.
"We are opposing foreign cloth to save the Indian weavers," Yadav said quoting Gandhi.
He addressed Congress President Sonia Gandhi and said her surname is same as that of Mahatma Gandhi.
"Don`t forget that Gandhi said this. You are here due to the Gandhi name. I would say to respected Sonia Gandhi that Gandhi name is there in your surname as well as Rajiv Gandhi`s. So, at least don`t go against Gandhi`s principles. Accept Gandhi`s views," Yadav said.
The SP Chief emphasised that Gandhi was in favour of swadeshi (domestic goods) and against foreign goods.
"Gandhi wanted Swadeshi and not foreign goods for sake of the poor, farmers, labourers, shopkeepers. You are forgetting swadeshi and bringing in foreigners," Yadav said.
He said from his experience, position and party`s policies and programmes he believes in Gandhi, Lohia and Jai Prakash. "Had they been here, nobody would have dared to bring FDI," Yadav said.
BSP leader Dara Singh Chauhan said India is the land of Gandhi where his followers live.
"Gandhi had talked about accepting swadeshi goods and boycotted foreign goods. I feel it would be an insult to Gandhi if we try to bring FDI in retail," he said.
PTI
