KOLKATA: Terming the ongoing logjam in Parliament as 'unfortunate' BJP national president Amit Shah today said the GST bill had been stalled for political reasons and appealed to Congress to support it for the development of the country.
"We are committed to record a 10 per cent growth rate and no obstacle can stop us from achieving that. The people of the country should be assured about it. When we mooted the idea of 10 per cent growth rate, we were aware about the nitty gritties of multi-party democracy. In the last 15 months we have increased the growth rate from 4.4 per cent to 5.7 per cent," Shah said.
The BJP president was addressing the Indian Chamber of Commerce here.
"As far as Parliament is concerned, I want to say it clearly not as party president but as a political worker that the situation in Parliament is unfortunate. This is the same GST bill which was piloted by the Congress and we had supported it then," he said.
"When we came to power we solved some issues the bill had after which it was introduced by taking along everyone. But now it has been stopped for political reasons," Shah said.
Shah assured that it was the duty of the ruling BJP to overcome all obstacles and take the country along the 10 per cent growth path.
"There is still one day left in the monsoon session of Parliament. So if the Congress as a responsible opposition understands its responsibilities and therefore support the bill in the Rajya Sabha, then it will increase the growth rate. We can't do anything more than making appeal (to support the bill)," Shah said.
The government's attempts to push through the GST bill in the Rajya Sabha were stalled by the Congress as it demanded a response from Prime Minister Narendra Modi over Lalit Modi and Vyapam issues.
Speaking on the achievements of the NDA government, Shah said BJP had given the country a strong government, which "is not remote-controlled like its predecessor was."
"The biggest achievement of the BJP government is that it is a government which is a strong government, does not suffer from policy paralysis like the previous UPA government did.
Our government is a strong government and it is not remote controlled like the previous government. The country during the UPA regime was in a confused state," Shah said.
Though the ruling party has been caught in a storm over the Lalit Modi and Vyapam scandals, Shah claimed that no one could question the integrity of the Modi government when it came to corruption.
"In the last 15 months of the BJP government, no one could raise a single question on corruption in Modi government. Even the Opposition can't point a finger on the central government on corruption. This curb on corruption has helped bring in more investments," Shah argued.
He also highly praised the Modi government for its strong and pro-active foreign and defence policies.
"Earlier our soldiers were beheaded and their heads taken to foreign soil. Now if someone raises a finger on our soldiers, we give a befitting reply, even by going deep inside foreign territory," Shah said.