Azad makes jibes at Modi govt, ‘Skill India’ was unsuccessful but ‘Kill India’ is working.”

Janjivan Bureau / New Delhi : After attack on Congress by BJP president Amit Shah,leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad addresses the House. Shah first time addressed in the Rajya Sabha. On triple talaq, Azad says, “You divided Shias and Sunnis, now you are dividing husband and wife. You put the husband in jail and tell the wife you have saved her.”
“We oppose triple talaq but we do not support criminalising it,” he says.
“Under this government, in a very short amount of time, there has been the highest number of ceasefire violations and soldier deaths,” Azad says.
He says the Opposition and all political parties stand with the government on Kashmir but the situation in the state is the worst it has been in 70 years.
Azad makes jibes at the government’s initiatives, “With ‘Start Up India’, nothing has started. ‘Stand Up India’ sat down before it could even stand. ‘Skill India’ was unsuccessful but ‘Kill India’ is working.”
The Congress leader says the BJP created a record for employment in 2017 by not creating a single job.
On the Budget, Azad says that for every scheme for which the government does not have answers, the target years is 2022. “Is this budget for four years?” he asks.
Azad jokes, “If there is a global tender for packaging and repackaging, the BJP will win it. We don’t even know how to package, let alone repackage.”
He says the government has spent Rs550 crore on advertisements for schemes.
Azad targets the government over the law and order situation, “This city, this country has become so unsafe. What has the government done for the innocent children being raped? What is this ‘New India’?”
“When the Nirbhaya case happened, we were so sensitive, we immediately brought in a law,” he says.
Azad says that while the ‘Beti Bacchao Beti Padhaao’ scheme will spread to 600 districts from the earlier 161, the budget allocated for this has gone up from Rs 200 crore to Rs 280 crore only. It should have increased to Rs 800 crore, he says.
Azad says the government had promised 10 crore jobs, 2 crore every year, but there was no mention of it in Budget 2018.
He calls out the Centre for not passing on benefits from the fall in crude price to customers. Quoting a UN report, Azad says that of the 50% toilets of targeted toilets constructed so far, only 35% are usable.
Azad targets price rise under BJP rule and says, “There used to be Bharat bandhs when the prices rose while our government was in power. Today, the price of the cylinder, which used to be Rs 350 during our rule, is over Rs 800. The price of grains, pulses and vegetables has risen by 300 times under the BJP.”
“Names of all the schemes launched under UPA governance after 1985 have been changed.” Azad says the BJP government is a not a game-changer, it is a name-changer. The Congress leader lists names of schemes that the government has changed since it came to power.
“We (UPA) are called the most corrupt government, but under the BJP govt, CBI judge has acquitted those charged in 2G spectrum scam,” says Azad.
Ghulam Nabi Azad speaks on the Motion of Thanks to President’s address. Azad jokes that he was surprised Amit Shah did not talk about Sardar Patel in his speech.