KTR says BJP most inept, inefficient, crony capital government India has seen

KT Rama Rao on Saturday laid bare the shortcomings and vices in the Centre’s handling of the federal system and its fiscal management

Hyderabad: In a point-by-point dissection of the Bharatiya Janata Party and its government led by Narendra Modi, IT and Industries Minister KT Rama Rao on Saturday laid bare the shortcomings and vices in the Centre’s handling of the federal system and its fiscal management, apart from tearing into the divisive and unethical politics the BJP was playing out in Munugode ahead of the November 3 by-poll.

Speaking to Telangana Today, the Minister pointed out that the BJP government had minted a staggering Rs.30 lakh crore in the form of cess on auto fuels, but still had infringed upon the share for State governments, which could be spent in the States for health and various other developmental activities.

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In 2014, when BJP came to power, the crude oil price was about US $94 a barrel and in 2022, this had risen to US $100. In contrast, the petrol price, which was around Rs.70 per litre in India, had now shot up to Rs.120 litre. The BJP-led Centre, while collecting cess on the fuel and pocketing Rs.30 lakh crore, had also usurped State shares as devolution of cess was not required akin to the practice of sharing taxes collected, he said, adding that India now had the dubious distinction of the highest LPG cylinder prices in the world.

In another example of the ‘efficiency’ of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision and leadership, the rupee value hit an all-time low against the US dollar, Rama Rao said, pointing out that during the Congress regime, Modi had criticized the-then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh saying the dollar value (about Rs.62 then) was competing with his age. Now, under Modi, the dollar value had crossed Modi’s own age and declined to Rs.83.

Indicative of how the BJP-led Centre valued its people, the spirit of the Swadeshi movement launched by Mahatma Gandhi at Sabarmati to promote khadi and handlooms was torn apart, with Modi, despite hailing from Gujarat, becoming the first Prime Minister to levy a five percent GST on handlooms.

The impact could be understood from the fact that 50 weavers had died by suicide in Modi’s own constituency of Varanasi, Rama Rao said, adding that the BJP government was but worried only about extending benefits to corporate giants. Proof of this was the announcement by a Minister in the Sri Lankan Parliament that pressure was exerted to allot an energy project to the Adani Group, Rama Rao said, terming the BJP the most inept, inefficient and crony capital government India had ever seen.