“These questions, stuffed with frustration, have emerged out of Congress’s hatred for PM Modi,” BJP stated.
New Delhi:
The BJP, armed with official development figures, got here all weapons blazing towards the Congress’s nine questions for Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his nine-year tenure on the Centre. Calling them “a bundle of lies and a mountain of deception”, former minister and high BJP chief Ravi Shankar Prasad on Friday stated he first considered ignoring it, nevertheless it’s such a “massive pack of lies” that he felt it essential to set the document straight.
“These questions, stuffed with frustration, have emerged out of Congress’s hatred for PM Modi. These usually are not questions arising out of criticism, which they’ve a proper to do, however are the results of a pathological hatred in direction of Narendra Modi,” Mr Prasad stated.
They (Congress) have questioned Covid “mismanagement”, the previous union minister fumed, terming it “not only a lie, however the top of Congress’s shamelessness”.
They have questioned the lockdown as effectively, even when the complete world accepts that India’s Covid administration was one of the best, he stated, citing numerous authorities efforts to include the pandemic. He stated the grand outdated occasion is free to criticise, however questioned why it was “weakening India’s resolve” utilizing that.
“This is a big disrespect to the lakhs of service staff — medical doctors, nurses, sanitation staff, and ambulance drivers — who tried to save lots of the nation through the Covid disaster. We condemn this strongly,” he stated.
Ravi Shankar Prasad stated he was ‘amused’ by Congress’s declare that India’s financial system is in very unhealthy form. The Indian financial system was part of the “fragile 5” throughout former PM Manmohan Singh’s tenure, he identified, including that underneath PM Modi’s 9 years on the helm, it’s among the many high 5 globally.
The former minister then highlighted figures that he asserted indicated large development within the financial system.
“Indian financial system was 1 trillion {dollars} in 2014, it has now crossed 3.5 trillion {dollars}. India has greater than 50 lakh crore foreign exchange reserves. India exported items value Rs 36 lakh crore, this was simply Rs 19 lakh crore in 2014. It nearly doubled,” he stated.
On value rise, Mr Prasad countered by evaluating annual inflation figures with high economies throughout the globe.
“In April 2023, India’s annual inflation was 4.7 per cent. In the US, it was 8.9, Australia 8.5, France 17.5, Sweden 21.2, and Germany 23.5,” he stated, including that this was regardless of the Ukraine struggle ‘dislocating’ the worldwide provide chain, affecting the complete world.
He then turned to questions on farmers. Citing Minimum Support Price figures, he stated Congress was mendacity about MSP.
“MSP for Rice was Rs 1,360 per quintal in 2014-15, at present it is Rs 2,040 per quintal. Paddy was Rs 1,400, it’s now Rs 2,060 per quintal. MSP for jowar was hiked from Rs 1,530 to 2,970, for bajra it went from Rs 1,250 to 2,350, and toor dal MSp went up from Rs 4,350 to Rs 6,600,” Mr Prasad stated.
“They ought to examine information and proper their knowledge earlier than making allegations,” he added.
The former minister then sought to “reality examine” Congress’s allegation that manufacturing was weakening.
Mr Prasad stated India was doing Rs 16,000 crore value of defence export, and is the second-biggest cell producer on the earth.
“In 2022-23, cellphones value Rs 90,000 crore have been exported, using round 4 to 5 lakh folks (70 per cent girls). In 2014, India exported 78 per cent of its cellphones. Now 99 per cent of India’s requirement is met by made-in-India mobiles,” he stated, with out giving out a comparability of total manufacturing knowledge.
Mr Prasad additionally hit out on the Congress for questioning the Goods and Service Tax, which the previous Congress president had referred to as the “Gabbar Singh Tax”.
Rs 1.87 lakh crore income was generated from GST, the very best ever, he stated, and went on to quote knowledge from Direct Benefit Transfers.
“In 2022-23, 6,68,435 crore rupees had been transferred on to the financial institution accounts of the poor as a part of 312 schemes. Rs 2,73,093 crore was saved, which was earlier siphoned off by middlemen,” he stated.
India’s fintech market is among the largest on the earth, Mr Prasad identified. “It was Rs 50 billion {dollars} in 2021 and can contact 150 Billion {dollars} by 2025. Digital funds in India are value 10 billion {dollars},” he stated, suggesting India’s large strides in direction of digitisation had been boosting the financial system.
On the query of unemployment, Mr Prasad didn’t quote official figures however prompt that the tempo of highway development, growth of metros, and railway electrification, amongst different issues, have absolutely generated employment. He additionally stated tech Unicorns are using scores of individuals.
“Railway electrification was simply 33 per cent in 2013-14, at present it is 90 per cent. India has the most cost effective web on the earth. 74 new airports have been constructed,” Mr Prasad stated, suggesting these had been driving employment.
Ravi Shankar Prasad, on the query of corruption, mocked Congress, citing sensational allegations of corruption throughout its time period on the Centre, particularly naming the 2G rip-off, Commonwealth Games, Adarsh rip-off, Bofors, submarine, and helicopter rip-off.
Senior Congress chief Jairam Ramesh, flanked by occasion leaders Pawan Khera and Supriya Shrinate, earlier at present launched a booklet ‘Nau saal, Nau sawaal’ and stated PM Modi had turn out to be the prime minister on this present day 9 years in the past and subsequently, the occasion desires to ask 9 questions of him.