Amit Shah's son Jay icon of Start Up India: Rahul Gandhi keeps the heat on in Gujarat
"Have you heard of Start Up India? Have you heard about the icon of Start Up India, Jay Shah?" Rahul Gandhi said in a public meeting in poll-bound Gujarat's Vadodara city, attacking the BJP chief's son over the surge in his firm's turnover after the BJP came to power.
In Short
- Why is Modi quiet on the Jay Shah controversy, Rahul asked.
- Temple Enterprise's turnover zoomed from Rs 50,000 to around Rs 80 crore in 2015-16.
- Modi said he is chowkidar of the nation and will not allow any corruption: Rahul.
Continuing his frontal attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi today called Shah's son Jay an icon of Start Up India, a pet scheme of Modi aimed at creating entrepreneurs.
"Have you heard of Start Up India? Have you heard about the icon of Start Up India, Jay Shah?" Rahul Gandhi said in a public meeting in poll-bound Gujarat's Vadodara city.
In an article published on Sunday, The Wire has claimed that Jay Shah's firm Temple Enterprise's turnover zoomed by around 16,000 times from Rs 50,000 to around Rs 80 crore in 2015-16 after the BJP came to power in 2014. Shah has sued the news website of Rs 100 crore for the report.
In his speech, Rahul also included Modi, accusing him of promoting crony capitalism and maintaining silence over the Jay Shah controversy. "But the chowkidaar of India is quiet, he does not like to comment on these things," Rahul said.
Gandhi was referring to Modi who has often said he is the chowkidar of the nation and will not allow any corruption.
On Monday, addressing enthusiastic crowds in Nadiad in central Gujarat on the second phase of the Congress's Navsarjan Yatra, Rahul had taken similar potshots at the Modi government.
"When it comes to helping, they help only a handful of industrialists. For 10-12 years, Amit Shah's son's company had nothing, but started earning only after 2014. 'Ajeeb duniya hain' (It's a strange world). He (Jay Shah) started with Rs 50,000, and in a year it jumped to Rs 80 crore. This is 'Start Up India', 'Make in India'," he said, mocking the Prime Minister's pet schemes.
At his aggressive best, Gandhi went on an interactive mode while addressing the crowd. "Complete my sentence, 'Na khaunga, Na khaney dunga. Kahan gaya chowkidar? Ye hain Gujarat ki sachchai (I will not indulge in corruption, nor let others indulge in corruption. Where is the gatekeeper? This is the reality of Gujarat)," he said, as the cheering crowds repeated after him.
WATCH VIDEO | Gujarat: Rahul mocks Modi govt over media report on Jay Shah's company