Speaking at Agenda Aaj Tak 2017, BJP president Amit Shah said that GST should not be looked in view of the forthcoming Assembly elections.
“GST is probably the world’s biggest sales tax reform. Even for us, GST was not about the elections, but about the betterment of economic state of the country, about freeing small-scale industries from policing and bribing crisis. When such a big change takes course, it is bound to face some difficulties in the beginning,” said Shah.
Shah stressed that within three months of GST implementation, the government reached out to people and took note of its loopholes and problems, and according to which necessary changes were made.
“Now, there’s a GST council meeting being held every month, where the teething-problems are being discussed and fixed,” he added.
On Congress politicising GST, Shah said that every decision regarding GST was made unanimously “with the agreement of every state leader”.
“I want to ask Rahul Gandhi, if there was so much problem with GST among Congress, why did six Congress CMs agree with it?” asked Shah.
PM’S PROMISE TO BUSINESSMEN
Further commenting on GST, he said “Prime Minister himself has promised the businessmen of the country that BJP is looking into this (GST crisis) with sensitivity. Every change that is required to help entrepreneurs of all level – small, medium and large-scale – will be made as required. We are progressing gradually.”
On being questioned if the increase in pace to fix GST crisis is because of the Gujarat elections, Shah dismissed it saying that it was a ‘laughable’ question.
“We knew since a long time that the Gujarat elections are in December. If we were planning GST in accordance to it, we would’ve introduced it after the elections,” said Shah.
“Our intentions are pure,” added the BJP president, triggering a round of applause from the audience. “We won’t let the problems of businessmen and taxpayers of the country last for much long. We will soon come up with solutions,” he said.
ON RAHUL GANDHI’S RELIGION BEING QUESTIONED
On the whole fiasco regarding Rahul Gandhi’s Somnath temple visit and alleged registration as a non-Hindu, Shah said that it was ‘not BJP, but the media that started it’.
“The BJP never questioned him [Rahul Gandhi]. It was a local channel in Gujarat that first tweeted about it, after which the news went viral,” he said.
“Aap log bhi danda leke pohoch jate ho toh koi bol deta hai,” he added, pinning the whole debacle on the media.
ON HARDIK PATIL’S SEX CD
Shah’s one-liner was that neither ‘doing’ it was right, nor was releasing the CD. Refusing to comment on it further, Shah stressed that BJP’s agenda is to bring development and progress.
Making a U-turn to talk about Congress, he went on, “Rahul Gandhi is going around Gujarat saying some 1,000 schools have been shut down, let him name one state-run school that has been shut down.”
Saying so, Shah accused Rahul Gandhi of reading out of notes made by his ‘managers’, “only making people in Gujarat laugh like the audience here.”
Amit Shah also said that it was Congress that left Gujarat in the throes of “caste-based and religion-based violence,” evoking KHAM.
ON RAHUL GANDHI’s ‘AGGRESSIVE’ AVATAR
Upon being asked about Rahul Gandhi’s “newfound aggressive image”, Shah joked about how BJP “stole Gandhi’s very own municipal constituency in Uttar Pradesh (Amethi) from him.”.
“Had he paid any attention there instead of making rounds in Gujarat, maybe he could’ve saved his constituency,” said Shah.
ON RAFAEL FIGHTER AIRCRAFT DEAL
Speaking on Opposition questioning the deal, Shah tauntingly said that fighter aircraft “aren’t vegetables”, and that its prices depend on what went into making the planes, etc.
“The Rafael fighter aircraft deal was made between the governments of India and France, with no middlemen,” he said, stressing that the Ambanis were “not a part of the deal.”
“Main bada saiyam rakhta hu, kahi mere muh se kuch galat baat na nikal jaye,” was another taunt that Shah dropped for Rahul Gandhi, adding that the Congress vice president should do a better job at cross-checking information.
Amit Shah confidently stated that there is tremendous wave in favour of BJP in Gujarat this election season, adding that BJP will win the state with 150 seats.
ON PADMAVATI
Shah stressed that moviemakers should not take facts lightly when making films on historical stories. He also argued that the story of Rani Padmini is “definitely not a myth” as there are “many books that account it”.
“There isn’t one child in this country who has not heard of Rani Padmini’s sacrifice. Everybody has read about it,” he said.
When asked about the bounties that were placed on Deepika Padukone by BJP leaders, Shah evoked freedom of expression.
ON GDP
Responding to P Chidambaram’s attack regarding the bounce back of the GDP, Shah remarked, “We had left a GDP of 8.8 per cent when Congress took over. Manmohan Singh and P Chidambaram brought down to 4.4 per cent. We have at least brought it up to 6.3 per cent.”
(India today)
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