BJP Govt Has Created 'Atmosphere of Fear' in Country: Industrialist Rahul Bajaj to Amit Shah

New Delhi, December 1, 2019:

Rahul Bajaj, the chairman of Indian conglomerate Bajaj Group and member of Parliament, said people are afraid to criticise the BJP government as they don’t have the confidence that it will be appreciated and this had led to an "atmosphere of fear" in the country.

ALSO READ: Northeast States to be ‘Protected’ from Citizenship Bill, Says Amit Shah

During an Economic Times event, Bajaj told Shah, "Nobody from our industrialist friends will speak, I will say openly… An environment will have to be created… When UPA II was in power, we could criticise anyone… You are doing good work, but despite that we don’t have the confidence that you will appreciate if we criticise you openly"..

This evoked a response from Shah, who said there was no need to fear but if Bajaj felt so, then “we will have to make an effort to improve the atmosphere”.

ALSO READ: Amit Shah to Pass Citizenship Bill at all Costs: Rajya Sabha MP Biswajit Daimary

To this, Shah said lynchings were not new, and it was wrong to say no convictions had happened.

Bajaj also condemned BJP leader Pragya Thakur for her comments that Gandhi-killer Nathuram Godse was a patriot. To this, the Home Minister said immediately after Thakur’s statement, he and other senior leaders had condemned it. He added that while there was some confusion over whether Thakur had indicated Godse or revolutionary Udham Singh, she had apologised for her statement in Parliament.

Support Inside Northeast (InsideNE), an independent media platform that focuses on Citizen-centric stories from Northeast India that are surprising, inspiring, cinematic and emotionally relevant.