BJP leader and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Tuesday that economic offenders were leaving the country because they were scared of the stringent enforcement of laws by the Narendra Modi-led government.
“Why are they leaving the country? Because they know we have been taking severe action...Even if they leave, we will confiscate their assets and bring them back,” she said.
Ms. Sitharaman was addressing the first conference of the State BJP’s traders’ wing. The event, organised at the YMCA Grounds, Royapettah, was attended by Union Minister of State for Finance and Shipping Pon. Radhakrishnan, State BJP president Tamilisai Soundararajan and former Rajya Sabha member La. Ganesan.
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Ms. Sitharaman said that the banks had been saddled with non-performing assets because of a practice in the previous Congress-led government wherein loans were disbursed based on recommendations made over phone. She said that the incumbent BJP-led government had enacted laws like the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code and the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act to curb such malpractices.
Ms. Sitharaman said that the traders’ wing should be proactive in taking the policies of the NDA government to the common man, ahead of the general elections in 2019.
‘BJP has risen in status’ADVERTISEMENT
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In his speech, Mr. Radhakrishnan blamed the Congress and the DMK for the UPA government’s alleged support to the Sri Lankan government towards the end of the country’s civil war in 2009. He said that deaths of an estimated 1.5 lakh Sri Lankan Tamils would be on the minds of voters ahead of the 2019 general elections.
Mr. Radhakrishnan said the BJP had risen in status to become an important political force in the State. “No political party in Tamil Nadu can engage in politics without mentioning the BJP,” he claimed.