Janjivan Bureau
Raipur : Launching a fresh attack on Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, BJP chief Amit Shah on Monday asked him to shed his “Italian glasses” and switch to “Indian” ones to see the development taking place under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “Rahul baba questions what the BJP government has done in last two-and-half years. Rahul baba you spend more time on vacation therefore you do not have the news. Your glass is Italian-made. Switch to Indian glasses, then it will be clearly evident that India is changing,” he said addressing a massive gathering of party workers at Science College grounds in Raipur.
Shah was in town to participate in an event to mark the completion of 13 years of the Raman Singh government in Chhattisgarh.
In an apparent dig at former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the BJP president said the party has provided a Prime Minister who can speak.
“Rahul baba asked what we have done? Let me answer the first thing, we have given a prime minster who speaks. You (Rahul) had given us a prime minster whose voice was never heard by people of the country, except by you and your mother (in a reference to Sonia Gandhi).
“We have given a prime minister who considers problem of people as personal,” he said.
Shah said BJP has provided a “clean and transparent” government and not a single accusation of corruption could be levelled against it by the opposition, in contrast to the erstwhile Congress-led UPA government “which was involved in corruption to the tune of Rs 12 lakh crore in its ten-year rule.”
“In just two-and-a-half year tenure of the NDA government, Prime Minister Modi has launched 92 welfare schemes for the benefit of poor and ensured that implementation of these schemes takes place properly across the country.
“..Congress and other opposition parties used to raise question what the BJP government has done against black money, but after November 8 (when demonetisation was announced) they are asking why such strong step was taken,” Shah said.
Continuing his tirade against the Opposition, the BJP chief said, “During the last 60-year rule of Congress a disease called black money had paralysed the country, but with one strike Modi has not only wiped out the disease, but its consequences like corruption, terrorism and naxalism.”
Referring to the demonetisation decision and its aftermath, Shah said the PM was “pained” to see people standing in queues outside banks.
“But if any operation is done to cure the disease, the pain persists for some days,” he said.
The BJP leader said the economy had suffered “paralysis of black money” during the last 60-year rule of Congress, “which is not possible to be cured without demonetisation operation.”
He said black money received by the government after demonetisation will be used for the welfare of farmers, dalits, tribals, women and backward classes.
“The war against black money will continue,” Shah said.
Accusing the Congress of “insulting martyrs”, Shah said, “During tenure of the UPA government, Army had to wait for permission from Delhi to retaliate against firing on the border from Pakistan side.
“But after the NDA government came to power, even if a single bullet is fired from the border it is retaliated by our Army by firing shells. Brave soldiers have taken revenge for their slain colleagues in Uri by giving a befitting reply to Pakistan through surgical strike,” he said.
Shah said Chief Minister Raman Singh and his team have brought a “bimaru” state like Chhattisgarh in the frontline among the developed states in the country.
“In 2004, the BJP government under Raman Singh came to power and since then the state has achieved new heights of development right from rural to urban areas. As BJP does politics based on performance and not on caste, the party has registered consecutive victories in different states,” he said.
Shah said BJP would definitely win the Chhattisgarh Assembly elections in 2018.
Earlier, he inaugurated late Nanaji Deshmukh Granthalaya (central library) at Kushabhau Thakre Parisar, the BJP’s state headquarters in the capital.
