Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Union Minister Smt Smriti Irani today lambasted the Congress party Rahul Gandhi and P Chidambaram for holding fake and highly misleading press conference on the issue of the National Monetization Pipeline. She said those who sold off the assets of the country and committed massive corruption are now levelling baseless and false allegations against us .
Smt Smriti Irani further said that when there was the Congress party government in Maharashtra they had done Rs 8000 crore monetization in the Mumbai – Pune Expressway project , so is Rahul Gandhi saying that the Congress government in Maharashtra sold off the Mumbai – Pune Expressway to the private sector ?
The Union Minister also asked — Similarly in 2008 one RFP was floated for the New Delhi Railway Station when the Congress party government was in power at the Centre . Is Rahul Gandhi saying that the government in which the head of the government was his mother Sonia Gandhi was that government trying to sell off the country and its assets ?
Smt Smriti Irani further said that again in 2006 the privatisation drive of airports was started by the Congress led Union government which was headed by Sonia Gandhi , so is Rahul Gandhi implying that the Congress government sold off roads , railways and airports of the country ?
The senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader also said that today the manner in which Rahul Gandhi has commented has once again reflected his political hypocrisy and bankruptcy . It again proves that Rahul Gandhi had shamelessly tried to target the Central Government which has brought the entire monetization process in a transparent manner and fill coffers of the country and saved the country from the ‘thieves ‘ of the Congress party . The Narendra Modi government has started this process for the development and progress of the country and save the country from the corrupt Congress .
Smt Smriti Irani said that the National Monetization Pipeline announced by the Union Finance Minister Smt Smriti Irani ji yesterday very clearly states that the government will continue to hold the ownership of all its assets . Apart from keeping the ownership rights of all the assets in the entire monetization plan , the government has also decided to ask the state governments to appoint its nodal officers for the entire monetization process .
The Union Minister asked that does Rahul Gandhi believe that all the Congress governments in the states which are undertaking the monetization drives are also selling off their states and its assets to the private parties ?
Giving a scathing reply to the fake propaganda and insinuations of the Opposition parties the Union Minister said some people are thinking and spreading canards that the government will sell off these properties , but it is a big lie . The government will continue to hold the ownership of all these properties . The government will give on lease only those properties which are under utilised assets . The ownership of these properties will continue to remain with the government and the private sector partners will have to compulsorily return it to the government after a fixed time period .
The Union Minister further said that the National Monetization Pipeline talks about the brownfield assets which need to be monetized in a lucrative and judicious manner . The money raised from the entire monetization plan will be spent in massive infrastructure development that will further boost growth and development of the country , the Union Minister added .