BJP president Amit Shah in first Parliament speech tears into Congress
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Amit Shah, speaking with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in attendance, Shah said most of the NDA government's time in power has got wasted in undoing the wrongs committed by the previous Congress-led UPA government.
“Sarkaar ne jab kaam-kaaj sambhala, tab sarkaar ke paas virasat me kya tha? Jis prakaar ka gaddha tha, wo gaddha bharne mein hi sarkaar ka bahut saara samay gaya hai aur gaddha bharne ke baad in uplabhdhiyon ko ek alag najariye se dekhein (When the government took charge, what did it get in legacy? The kind of ditch it was, most of the government's time went in filling that ditch. So, government's achievements should be looked at in that context),” Shah said in Rajya Sabha.
“For the first time after Independence, a non-Congress party was given mandate by the public and it was BJP government led by PM Modi. In spite of getting absolute majority, we formed government with NDA members,” the BJP president said.
“Abhi mai Chidambaram sahab ka tweet padh raha tha ki 'mudra bank ke saath kisi ne pakode ka thela laga diya, isko rozgari kehte hain?' Haan main maanta hu ki bheekh maangne se to accha hai ki koi mazdoori kar raha hai. Uski dusri pidhi aage aayegi to udyogpati banegi (I was reading Chidambaram's tweet in which he said 'somebody put up a pakoda stall near Mudra bank, is this called employment?' I agree it is better to run a stall than beg on the streets. Their coming generation will become industrialist),” Shah said, hitting out at Congress leader and former finance minister P Chidambaram's Pakoda jibe.
Lauding PM Modi's achievements, Shah said, “Chai waale ka beta aaj Pradhan Mantri bankar is sadan me baitha hai (A tea-seller's son is sitting in Parliament as prime minister).”
On Goods and Services Tax (GST), he refuted claims that the BJP had opposed it.
“BJP never opposed GST, it had only opposed its implementation. UPA had conceptualized GST. States suffered due to lowering of cess. UPA was supposed to compensate but it was NDA which compensated Rs 37,000 crores,” Shah stated.
He also hit out at Rahul Gandhi, “The decision to introduce GST was unanimous. And what was it called? Gabbar Singh Tax! Who is Gabbar Singh? He was a dacoit in 'Sholay' film. Does a tax brought in legally called dacoity?” he asked.
-PTC News
