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Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman calls DMK a stumbling block for development of Tamil Nadu
Slamming parties showing black flag to Modi during his visit to Tamil Nadu, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the opposition parties should instead get replies by raising queries on important issues in the Parliament.
By
migrator
migrator
Chennai
“Nothing will change, if they just flash black flags and merely sit at home. It will only affect the image of Tamil Nadu,” she said during an interaction with party workers in Coimbatore on Sunday.
Pointing out that the DMK remains a stumbling block for the development of the state, the Union Minister said that the Prime Minister did not sideline the state for giving only a single MP, but had implemented numerous projects.
Responding to criticism of Congress, which called the budget as a poll promise by the BJP, Nirmala said that the opposition parties could not digest the huge positive response from the public.
“The Central government has every right to table an interim budget. The opposition parties couldn’t find fault with the budget, so they are raising baseless issues,” she said.
Pointing out that the BJP will reach out to the public to clarify the misconceptions on issues like demonetisation, Rafale deal and GST, the Defence Minister said that the Centre has not kept GST dues pending for Tamil Nadu.
“It is a baseless allegation. If the state government has incurred any loss due to the GST, the Union government will compensate. It is our wish to bring petroleum products under GST cover, however many states are opposing the move,” she said.
On alliance issues, she said that it has to be decided by the state unit of the party. She also said that jallikattu was banned during the DMK-Congress rule and it was brought back during the BJP regime.
The Defence Minister also accused the previous UPA government of failing to upgrade the Defence Public Sector Undertakings, while stating that the crashing of Mirage-2000 trainer aircraft was not a setback for indigenisation.
She also said the crash of the trainer aircraft after an upgrade under a programme being carried out by the HAL on Friday was “not a setback for indigenisation. It is a fact that many things have to be improved in PSUs.”
When did BJP promise 15L: Nirmala
Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday categorically denied BJP promising to deposit Rs 15 lakh in the account of every Indian citizen by bringing back black money from abroad.
“When did the BJP make such a promise? Show me evidence and I will answer then,” she said to the media in Coimbatore while replying to a query on the party’s poll promise ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.
During the 2014 Lok Sabha election campaign, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said each Indian would receive Rs 15 lakh when black money would be repatriated from abroad. The Opposition parties had then criticised its feasibility and had called it a mere political gimmick. Incidentally, two years later, in 2016, just after Modi announced the demonetisation scheme, an RTI request had been filed by applicant Mohan Kumar Sharma, asking about the exact date when the money would be deposited. The PM’s Office had responded that this could not be considered “information” under the rules of the Right To Information Act.
Slamming parties who had shown the black flag to the Prime Minister when he visited Madurai recently to lay the foundation stone for AIIMS, Sitharaman said the Opposition parties should instead try to get answers by raising queries on important issues in the Parliament. “Nothing would change if they just show black flags and merely sit in home. It will only affect the image of TN,” she added.
Responding to Congress’s criticism of calling the budget a mere poll promise by the BJP, Sitharaman said that Opposition parties could not quite fathom the positive response from the public. “The Central government has every right to table an interim budget. The Opposition couldn’t find fault with the budget, hence they are raising baseless issues,” she added.
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