Shah hits out at Rahul, rejects graft charges in Rafale deal
New Delhi, Aug 10 : BJP President Amit Shah on Friday hit out at Congress President Rahul Gandhi, saying he is not a "sahabzade" who has got the top post due to a family.
Shah also rejected charges of corruption levelled by former Union ministers Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shourie in the Rafale fighter jet deal, saying credence should be given to the Defence Minister's statement and not those "who did not get jobs."
During an interview after unveilinga a book "Blueprint for an Economic Miracle" authored by Pradeep Gupta at Constitution Club, Shah expressed confidence that people of the country will again elect Narendra Modi as Prime Minister with a better mandate than it got in 2014.
Answering questions from the moderator, he refused to speak on Rahul Gandhi hugging the Prime Minister in Lok Sabha during the debate on no-confidence motion.
"I will not comment on it. It is not my level," he said.
But he took a jab at him when he was asked if the BJP will have to work hard to win assembly elections in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
"Paseena bahana hamare swabhav me hai (working hard is in our nature)...hum koi sahabzade nahi hain jinko parampara me parivar mila hai (I am not sahabzade who has got family in tradition)," he said.
To a question over allegations of corruption in Rafale deal leveled by former Union ministers Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shourie, he said Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that the base price of Rafale fighter aircraft negotiated by the Modi government is less than what was finalised by the UPA.
"Will you give importance to the Defence Minister's statement or those who did not get jobs," he said, adding the government has already clarified on the matter following Opposition charges.
He expressed the hope that the BJP will retain power in all the three states with a comfortable majority because the government in these states have addressed the concerns of the people.
Listing the achievements of the Modi government and the welfare schemes being run by it, he said the people have decided to again elect Narendra Modi as the Prime Minister.
"There is no doubt about it," he said.
In response to a query about fugitives Nirav Modi, Vijay Mallya, Mehul Choksi and others who left the country after allegedly looting public money, the BJP chief said the Modi government will take every step to bring them back.
"The process to bring them back is already on. There is fear among all those who loot public money," he said.
Asked about posters put up by Trinamool Congress against him a day before his rally in West Bengal, Shah said it has benefited him and people will attend the rally in large numbers.
"Our state unit has no money. These posters have given me publicity. Tomorrow there would be a huge gathering," he said.
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Relief to Mayawati, SC disposes of 2009 PIL against installation of her statues in UP
New Delhi, Jan 15: In a relief to BSP supremo Mayawati, the Supreme Court on Wednesday disposed of a petition filed in 2009 seeking a probe into the alleged spending of more than Rs 2,000 crore from the Uttar Pradesh government's budget on installing elephant statutes and personal glorification, when she was the chief minister of the state.
The development came on a day Mayawati turned 69.
A bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and Satish Chandra Sharma disposed of the petition filed by two lawyers -- Ravi Kant and Sukumar -- after observing that most of the prayers had become infructuous.
It noted that the Election Commission (EC) has already issued guidelines on the issue and that a stay on the installation of the statues cannot be granted as those have already been installed.
The public interest litigation (PIL) matter filed by the lawyers had alleged that a total amount of about Rs 2,000 crore was used from the state's budget for 2008-09 and 2009-10, when Mayawati was the chief minister, for installing her statues and the Bahujan Samaj Party's (BSP) poll symbol -- elephant -- at different places.
The petition, filed through advocate Prakash Kumar Singh, had claimed that the installation of 60 elephant statues at the cost of Rs 52.2 crore was not only wastage of public money but also contrary to circulars issued by the EC.
On April 2, 2019, Mayawati had justified her decision and told the apex court that the construction of her life-size statues and the BSP's poll symbol at various places in Uttar Pradesh during her tenure as the state's chief minister represented the "will of the people".
She had told the court that even the Congress, in the past, installed statues of its leaders, including those of Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and P V Narasimha Rao, across the country.
She had also referred to recent instances of installation of statues by state governments, including a statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, known as the "Statue of Unity", in Gujarat.
Besides, the BSP supremo had said the BJP-led Uttar Pradesh government has constructed a 221-metre-high statue of Lord Ram in Ayodhya at the state exchequer's cost.
"Thus, construction of memorials and installation of statues was not a new phenomenon in India," she had submitted.
"Similarly, other political parties in power at both the Centre as well as in states have also installed statues of various other leaders at public places at the cost of the public exchequer from time to time, but neither the media nor the petitioners have raised any questions with respect to them," she had said in an affidavit filed in the court.
The Dalit leader was responding to a notice issued by the top court and its oral observations. The court had, on February 8, 2019, observed that Mayawati should deposit the amount of public money used for erecting statues of herself and her party's poll symbol with the state exchequer.
The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister had sought the dismissal of the plea, which had alleged that public funds were misused, saying it was "politically motivated" and was in gross abuse of the process of the court.
"The will of the people was expressed by the state legislature with a proposal to install the statues of the answering respondent (Mayawati) at the memorials to show their respect to a contemporary woman Dalit leader, who has decided to sacrifice her life for the cause of the underprivileged communities, including Dalits, the downtrodden, Scheduled Tribes and economically weaker sections in all the communities," the 2019 affidavit of Mayawati had said.
"In these circumstances, the statues of the answering respondent (Mayawati) came into being as the will of the state legislature to represent the will of the people.
"It is submitted that the funds for the construction of the said memorials and installation of statues have been sanctioned through a budgetary allocation after approval of the budget by the state legislature and the passing of the relevant Appropriation Act by the state legislature in accordance with the Constitution of India and rules," the affidavit had said.
