India's infrastructure is pathetic, with frequent electric power breakdowns even in metropolitan cities, dangerously unhealthy water supply in urban areas, a galloping rate of HIV infection, and gaping potholes that dot our national highways.
Subramanian Swamy
This much I would say: Socialism has failed all over the world. In the eighties, I would hear every day that there is no inflation in the Soviet Union, there is no poverty in the Soviet Union, there is no unemployment in the Soviet Union. And now we find that, due to Socialism, there is no Soviet Union!
The world has come around to the view that democracy is essential for full human development. And only education and skill development can make this possible.
I think the BJP is a joke. It is a party of semi-literates and has fascist tendencies. Such a party can never have real roots in India because Hinduism is the antithesis of fascism.
Russia is a bankrupt country. It just lives on oil revenues.
The BJP's central leadership needs to recast the party structure where you openly speak of Hindutva and Indianness.
I was a very good friend of Rajiv Gandhi, and I had affection for Sonia as his wife.
The RSS is an anti-national organisation. The quicker it is disintegrated, the better for India.
See, Indira Gandhi was wrong in declaring the Emergency. She tried to put me in jail, but she could not. People voted her back, and I worked with her after that. Even though I was not a member of the Congress, she sought my help on China. You can't have personal vendetta, you see.
Gujarat is a state which gave shelter to Parsi community who came from Iran; this is not the tradition and heritage of Gujarat.
I had opposed the Jet-Etihad FDI arrangement on the ground of the disproportionate share of airspace given to Etihad, which is against the interest of domestic passenger traffic and also against national interest.
Chidamabaram has ruined the economy. He has turned out to be a third-rate failure as finance minister.
As a good Brahmin, I think any money being given to me is dakshina. I will accept money from anybody as long as it is Indian. As a good Brahmin, it is my right to accept money.
With proper infrastructure and packaging, India can certainly become a global player in agricultural exports.
Knowledge is gender neutral, and hence the 21st century offers a great opportunity to level the gender inequity of the last thousand years in India.
There is a serious effort going on by private airlines such as Spicejet and Vistara to benefit from this dismemberment of Jet Airways.
Ahmed Patel and Sonia Gandhi are not too different political personalities.
There is a history which has to be reversed, and that is the demolition of our temples.
I have never been scared.
Materialistic progress alone does not guarantee national security. What is essential is the character and integrity of the country's citizens.
As governor of RBI, Dr. Rajan has sent confidential and sensitive financial information to various persons around the world on his University of Chicago unsecure personal email address. This is a reckless disregard of the national security of India.
The problem with our country is that we don't ask for equality in treatment. They want free flow of capital into our country. Why do they not allow free flow of labour into their country? Tell me what is the reason why they don't allow people to migrate to the United States as and when they like?
The world view of economic development has completely changed: it is no longer believed to be driven by human labour, as Karl Marx said, or by capital, as Alfred Marshall stated, but is knowledge-driven.
Ancient monuments 300 to 1000-plus years old are never 'renovated,' only 'restored,' a distinction that escapes the babus.
I am not interested in state politics.
India can make rapid economic progress to become a developed country only through a globally competitive economy, which requires assured access to the markets and technological innovations of the United States and some of its allies such as Israel and Japan.
Jayalalitha is a performing monkey in the hands of Sasikala.
It's better to be known as a puppet than pretend not to be a puppet like Nawaz Sharif.
Operation Bluestar was a mischievous blunder, and it should not have been done.
The black money issue should not be misunderstood as one of merely avoiding taxes. It is, in fact, a major systemic crime of denying the nation's financial system the proceeds of wealth. Such denial should actually be declared as treason, where opportunities to share the wealth for the benefit of the poor are wilfully denied.
Rahul Gandhi cannot be a prime minister because he is a citizen of Britain, and his Indian citizenship will be cancelled; he won't even be an MP.
The Indian state has to be minimalist in regulatory interventions in social and economic matters; maximalist in providing the quality of life needs; and optimal in the maintenance of law and order.
I know the rule. I know law. I know economics. I know parliament. That's an explosive combination.
In Islam, the word of the Prophet is final. No true Muslim can disown these verses or say that they would rewrite the offensive verses of the Koran. If they do, then they would have to run for their lives.
If something happens to me, the people of Tamil Nadu should rise in my defence.
I am calling Shaktikanta Das as a corrupt person. I am surprised that the man I got removed from the Finance Ministry for corruption was brought in as governor.
The Aadhar data that was leaked to American companies was, in a way, a betrayal to the country.
I think the first thing we should do is abolish the income tax.
Shaktikanta Das being appointed as RBI Governor is wrong. He has worked closely in corrupt activities with P. Chidambaram and even tried to save him in court cases.
Putin should prove that he wants to be our friend by declassifying files of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and Lal Bahadur Shastri.
India has always come out of crises renewed and on a higher growth path.
Black money is a cancer in our economic system, not yet terminal or life-threatening.
Jayalalithaa was disqualified from contesting elections because of the Tansi case. I was the complainant. The public prosecutor conducted the case, but I provided all the documents and evidence. She was convicted. She could not contest elections, as her nomination papers were rejected.
The Delhi elite doesn't like me because I'm smarter than them.
BJP should direct our Ministers to wear traditional and modernised Indian clothes while abroad. In coat and tie, they look like waiters.
My critics began saying I was a chauvinist, nationalist, mad nationalist.
The RBI governor post is very high in the Warrant of Precedence and requires a patriotic and unconditional commitment to our nation.
Jayalalitha has turned out to be a failure as chief minister.
Alok Verma cannot be sacked based on the Central Vigilance Commission's (CVC) report without being heard. PM Modi should not listen to bogus legal brains.
I cannot become a Chowkidar because I am Brahmin. Brahmins can't be Chowkidars. It's a fact.
