Amit Shah tears into Congress in RS maiden speech

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Amit Shah on Monday hit out at the Congress for being unable to address the issue of unemployment.

While addressing his maiden speech as the member of Rajya Sabha, Shah said that the Congress ruled the nation for a decade but failed to tackle the issue of unemployment.

Shah further highlighted the work done by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government and said, "For the past 30 years the country has been unstable, with citizens not giving any one party a majority. However, in 2014, Narendra Modi and the BJP won that mandate as people sought a solution to the many problems. In spite of getting an absolute majority, we (BJP) formed the NDA. This government has done many things for the upliftment of the poor, has made many historic changes."

He also hit out at former finance minister and Congress leader P. Chidambaram's tweet comparing pakora seller to a bhikshu and said, "That is so wrong. A pakora seller is earning a living, not begging, who knows his next generation might rise to be a leader, after all, a tea seller has today become a Prime Minister."

Slamming the Congress and its chief Rahul Gandhi for terming GST as Gabbar Singh Tax, he said, "The GST was implemented after everyone's consensus. Now they are naming it Gabbar Singh Tax. Who is Gabbar Singh? He was a dacoit in Bollywood film Sholay. So is it dacoity to levy government tax?," he asked.

He further said that the country's economy is going to improve because of the GST.

"Look at the past -- We had 17 taxes, people had to show their accounts to 15 tax inspectors. Now there is just one tax and one tax inspector. BJP never opposed the GST when the Congress was in power," he added.

Highlighting the Modi government's initiatives for farmers, he said, "More than five crore farmers have signed up for the Bhima Yoajan. We also came up with a health card for soil - available in 14 languages - which has helped farmers"

Stating that Centre is working towards eradication of poverty, he said, "Garibi hatao slogan may have been raised years ago, but it was the Narendra Modi government that has moved towards it."

Recounting the work of his government in the last three years, the BJP chief said, "Prime Minister Modi ensured electricity in 16,000 villages of the 18,000 that didn't have it when the BJP came to power in 2014.This government dreamt to give every citizen a house. Government reduced prices of several medicines to benefit the poor," he said.

He further cited Jan Dhan Yojana as an example of the NDA's success story.

--ANI