Rahul Gandhi Misleading People On Notes Ban, GST: Ravi Shankar Prasad

Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad today hit out at Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and accused him of misleading people on demonetisation and GST.

Ravi Shankar Prasad said the notes ban exercise and implementation of GST helped the country in the long run and steps taken by the centre had made India the fastest growing economy in the world.

Talking to reporters in Bhopal, Mr Prasad said, "The Congress president has been raking up the issue of demonetisation and GST during the election campaign. He is misleading people. These steps have benefited the Indian economy in the long run."

He said 2.24 lakh fake companies were caught after demonetisation was announced, adding that more than Rs 4,000 crore had been deposited in the accounts of these companies.

The union minister said the tax base had also increased in the country with the number of people filing Income Tax Return (ITR) rising from 3.82 crore in 2013-14 to 6.86 crore in 2017-18.

Moreover, Mr Prasad claimed, income tax collection was Rs 6.38 lakh crore in the fiscal 2013-14, which had increased to over Rs 10 lakh crore.

"India is the fastest growing economy in the world due to steps taken by the centre. Now our economy is the sixth largest in the world," he claimed.

He took a swipe at the Congress and said the party lacked internal democracy as it was "tough for the party to appoint a chief from outside the Gandhi family."

"Whenever someone from outside the Gandhi family was appointed, the loyalists of this family could not tolerate it," he said.

Ravi Shankar Prasad cited former Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao in this regard and said when the latter died, his body was not kept in the Congress headquarters. Mr Rao was the first Prime Minister who was cremated outside the national capital, he said.

Sitaram Kesri, who was forced to vacate his government bungalow, was not even allowed to complete his term as Congress chief, he claimed.

Mr Prasad went on to cite the examples of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah to emphasise the BJP's internal democracy and claimed even a common worker could reach the top in the party.