BJP’s strategy for Bihar elections is two pronged: Ramesh

Former Union Minister and Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Friday said that the “BJP’s two-pronged strategy for Bihar elections won’t work.” The Congress MP in the Rajya Sabha attacked the BJP saying, “There are two broad fronts that are contesting in the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections. Clearly the Government’s strategy is a two-faced one in this contest, based on development on the top and communal polarisation below. The rhetoric from the Prime Minister is all about development, infrastructure, fulfilling the aspirations of the <g data-gr-id="49">youth</g> but the actual mobilisation is one which is based on communal <g data-gr-id="50">polaristaion</g>. The release of census data on religion is also not accidental it is all linked to the build-up to the elections.”

“Caste is a very important factor and Nitish Kumar’s track record is also pertinent one. Each of the 243 constituencies in the state is going to be fought bitterly. The BJP is not going ahead with a leader, so the contest is between Nitish and Narendra Modi. We are confident that the JDU-RJD-Congress alliance will be able to stop the BJP juggernaut, which was stopped first in Delhi,” he said while speaking to the media at Indian Women Press Corps (IWPC) in the Capital.

Referring to the Patel agitation in Gujarat as a “Black Swan Event” he said: “Gujarat which is a trans-caste and aspirational society, bur for this cataclysmic event (Patel agitation) to take place…. calls into play all the claims made by someone for the past 12 years and it also calls into play the very foundations of the Gujarat model.”

Attacking the Government over the issue of Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill, Ramesh said, “Congress wants the GST and it can also be seen as ‘Good and Simple’ Tax, but this Bill is neither good nor simple, but it is a tax. We have made five specific recommendations regarding GST, which we would want the Government to accept.” He added, “Empowerment committee of state finance ministers had unanimously supported GST. But Gujarat had opposed it. But when he became Prime Minister, he discovered the virtues of GST.”

Regarding the contentious issue of the Land Bill, Ramesh who is a member of the Joint Committee of Parliament (JCP) on the Bill said, “Out of the 15 amendments, there was no dispute on 6 of them. On the other 9 we raised serious political disagreements. Out of these; 9, 6 amendments have been withdrawn by the Government and 3 of them remain now.  The JCP will meet in November again and let’s see if consensus can be built on the remaining 3 amendments.” Ramesh said that since the NDA government came to power, inflation remains a “puzzling” phenomenon, <g data-gr-id="40">adding :</g> “Inflation rates are low, but <g data-gr-id="38">rise</g> in <g data-gr-id="39">cost</g> of food items is worrying.”