Government has no plans to import milk powder, opposition making false claims, says Amit Shah

Pune, July 21

Union Minister Amit Shah on Sunday said the Centre has no plans to import milk powder and accused the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi of spreading false information.

Speaking at the BJP’s Maharashtra convention in Pune, Shah, who holds the home and cooperation portfolios, said an old, undated notification was doing the rounds and MVA had cited it to claim that the government was planning to import milk powder.

“Even I got confused and called up Piyush Goyal (commerce minister), who told me that this was not our decision but that of Sharad Pawar. Don’t be confused. The circular was made by them,” said the senior BJP leader.

Asserting that there was no such plan, he said, “In the last ten years, not even one kg of milk powder was imported. In the next five years, not even one gram of milk powder will be imported. These people want to create fake narratives to win elections.”

During his address, Shah also mounted a scathing attack on the NCP (SP) chief and dubbed him the “leader of corruption” in the country.

He also accused Rahul Gandhi of being “arrogant” despite Congress losing elections on three occasions.

Shah dubbed Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray “the head of the Aurangzeb fan club” who was sitting with people who sought pardon for 1993 Mumbai serial blasts convict Yakub Memon.

He said Rahul Gandhi’s arrogance will be crushed after BJP wins upcoming Assembly elections in Maharashtra, Haryana and Jharkhand.

“If there is the biggest ‘sargana’ of corruption in Indian politics, it is Sharad Pawar. There is no confusion in my mind about this. I am saying it openly that Pawar has institutionalised corruption in the country,” Shah said as he accused the veteran politician of doing nothing for the country’s welfare and Maharashtra when he was in power.

Meanwhile, the NCP (SP) hit back at Shah, saying it is the BJP which has “legitimized” corruption by incorporating tainted leaders in the saffron fold.

“They accuse political leaders of corruption, and then once those who they accuse join BJP, they are all given a clean chit. This is the BJP’s washing machine process of legitimising corruption,” NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) national spokesperson Clyde Crasto stated.