BJP president Amit Shah on Monday called for holding simultaneous polls for all the local bodies, State Assemblies and lok Sabha. He appealed to all political parties to give a serious thought to the idea of holding simultaneous elections in the country at all levels and contribute towards holistic development by saving time, energy, and money of the nation.
“The President of India (Ram Nath Kovind) and the Prime Minister have mooted an idea of holding simultaneous polls from panchayat level to lok Sabha and this should be considered by all the political parties. Holding elections at different time affects development parameters of the nation and also drains money. I appeal to all political parties to give a second thought to it,” Shah said while initiating the debate on the Motion of Thanks for the President’s address in Parliament last week.
On the subject, he further said some of the parties may express concern that simultaneous polls may not be a good idea and that the BJP will benefit more from it, but such apprehensions should be cleared.
“We will all have to think, this is not just a matter of one party. Today we are in power, tomorrow you may come. Yes, you can come. Our mindset is not such that we will remain in power till eternity. This is democracy and citizens can vote anyone to power. You have also remained in power for 55 years. The country does not run like this. On certain issues, one has to rise above party politics for the country to run,” Shah said.
The BJP has favoured holding simultaneous elections to lok Sabha and State Assemblies and has written to the Standing Committee of Parliament in this regard. The suggestion has been mooted by the Prime Minister to help save precious time and money spent in electioneering.
In his fierce political attack on the floor of the Upper House, the BJP chief in his maiden Rajya Sabha speech tore into the Congress counting NDA Government’s several “failures”, including unemployment prevalent over the years in the country. In the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the ruling party chief also took on former Finance Minister P Chidambaram for his ‘pakoda’ jibe and said it is better to sell pakodas than being unemployed. Modi had said in a recent interview that a person selling pakodas is employed.
On the issue of unemployment, he said the problem is persisting even after 55 years of Congress rule but so intense that 8 years (of NDA rule) were not enough to resolve it. Shah referred to the initiatives taken by the Government in this regard, including Skill India, Stand Up India, Start Up India and MUDRA schemes.
“It is better for a youth to earn living selling pakodas instead of being unemployed. Making pakodas is not shameful, what is shameful is comparing such a person with a beggar,” Shah said and pointed out that a “chaiwala’s (tea-seller) son has become the Prime Minister today.”
Shah during his 90-minute speech termed GST as a big reform which “realised the dream of ‘One Country, One Tax’ and castigated the politics over the new indirect tax regime. Referring to Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s comment terming GST as Gabbar Singh Tax, Shah pointed out that Gabbar Singh was a dacoit in the Bollywood blockbuster Sholay.
“Is a dacoity taking place hereIJ Is legally claiming taxes from people a dacoityIJ Is this the understanding of peopleIJ And where does this Gabbar Singh Tax/GST goIJ It goes in the bank account of a jawan for giving One Rank, One Pension, it goes in the bank account of widows of martyrs. It goes towards giving the poor women (clean cooking fuel) Ujjwala Yojana,” he said and asked whether inciting people not to pay taxes was a symbol good politics.
He sought to dismiss the notion that BJP-ruled States had earlier opposed GST when the idea was floated by Congress-led UPA Government, saying there was lack of trust as the Congress did not fulfill its promise of compensating States.
Observing that GST was being projected as if small businesses will be shut, he assured that nothing of the sort will happen and said the small businesses and MSMEs will become stronger.
Shah recalled that in 2013, the future of the country seemed uncertain, women felt unsafe, and jawans guarding the border could not display their valour due to the Government’s indecisiveness. He also said a series of scams worth Rs 12 lakh crore was raising big questions in the citizen’s minds and over policy paralysis.
While appreciating the nationalisation of banks unleashed by former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, Shah said the doors of banks were not opened for the poor, which has been done now.
Referring to the Ayushman Bharat scheme announced in the Budget last week to provide insurance cover of Rs 5 lakh to 40-50 crore people, the BJP president said no Government had the courage till now to introduce a scheme of this scale, therefore the scheme has been christened ‘NaMo Healthcare’ by the people.
“This Government has a principle. We do not take decisions that people like. We have seen Governments which took decisions for vote bank (politics) to suit people’s likes but this Government takes decisions that are good for the people, not decisions that they may like,” Shah said.
Referring to the cowardly Uri attack by Pak-sponsored terrorists when 12 jawans were burnt alive while sleeping, he said the Prime Minister displayed exemplary political will and the attack was avenged within 10 days through a surgical strike in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir.
Shah said the Government is being run in a transparent manner and in the last 3.5 years, even the Opposition has not been able to accuse the Government of any scam. He said dynastic politics, casteism and appeasement were three problems plaguing the country.
Shah also appealed to the Congress to support the Bill to give constitutional status to the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) for its smooth passage in both Houses of Parliament, saying there is no politics involved. Referring to the Triple Talaq legislation, Shah said Muslim women are battling for their rights in courts for last many years.
“When the Prime Minister brings a legislation to protect the rights of Muslim women, the Bill was stalled in the Rajya Sabha,” the BJP chief said.