"India changed from 'fragile five' to 'powerful five": BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad in Lok Sabha

NEW DELHI: Launching a scathing attack at Congress during the debate on the 'White Paper' brought by the NDA government in the Lok Sabha, Bharatiya Janata Party MP Ravi Shankar Prasad on Friday stated that the UPA government handed over fragile economy to the BJP government in 2014 and in 10 years the Modi government transformed it into "powerful five". During his address in the Lok Sabha, Ravi Shankar Prasad said that today the highest capital investment has taken place in India.

"What inheritance did we get and what did we do? 'We have brought the boat out of the storm.' India has changed from 'fragile five' to 'powerful five'. What we did was that the economy that Congress had left at number 11, we brought to the fifth largest economy and very soon we will make it the third largest in the world. We made the law of Aadhaar and connected Jan-Dhan, sent almost 44 lakh crores of rupees to accounts and also saved 3 lakh crores, this is Digital India. Today India is number one in UPI payments. When we were in opposition in the old House, a new scam kept opening every week. If you commit scams, we will not leave you," he said.

Responding to Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi's remarks that ED has been targeting the opposition leaders, the BJP MP asked why the jailed leaders in different states are still in jail if they haven't committed any wrong thing. "Why was Gaurav Gogoi so upset over the ED? No one's case will be withdrawn. If no one is implicated, then no one will be released. People in Bengal, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Delhi Deputy CM have been in jail for a year and have not been able to get bail. They have approached High Courts and Supreme Court. I want to say that you should stop saying things to ED now," Ravi Shankar Prasad said.

The former Minister of Information and Broadcasting further said that the Commonwealth scam happened, the Coal Scam happened, the Submarine scam, the Pilates scam and Helicopter scam and the 2-G spectrum scam happened. "Is former PM (Manmohan Singh) accused in Coal Scam or not? He got stay from the Supreme Court because he was also in charge of the Coal Ministry at that time," he added.

"Today the highest capital investment has taken place in India. Has the Highest Foreign Reserve arrived today or not? Today IMF and big companies of the world are saying that India is the bright spot in the economy of the world. Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ji's government had given a robust economy which they (Congress) enjoyed for the first 1-2 years and later let it sink. During the Corona period, when the country was under lockdown, we provided free vaccines. Today the 25 crore people have come out of poverty. Is India the second largest mobile infrastructure in the world or not?" Ravi Shankar Prasad said in the Lok Sabha.

The BJP MP further said that in 2004, the inflation rate was 3.9 per cent. It was 3.8 per cent in 2005 and 4.4 in 2006. The good work of Atal ji's government came to an end in these three years. In 2009 it increased to 9.1 per cent, 12.3 in 2010, 10.5 per cent in 2011 and 10.2 per cent in 2013. Then Modi ji came into government and today it is 5.5 per cent. This is universally accepted data.

"This white paper is going to become a milestone in the coming parliamentary history. Today we are proud that the country is moving forward under the leadership of Modi ji," Prasad asserted. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday said that the 'White Paper on Indian Economy' tabled by the government in Parliament was a "serious document" and reflects the dedicated efforts of the BJP-led government to bring the economy "back on rails" after 10 years of "economic mismanagement" of the UPA government. Replying to the debate on the White Paper in Lok Sabha, Sitharaman talked of the steps taken by the Modi government to boost self-reliance in defence and expedite environmental clearances for faster economic development.