People of this country don't take Congress seriously, won't fall for their claims: Amit Shah tells CNN-News18

Union home minister Amit Shah described Congress leader Rahul Gandhi as a man with a ‘crooked vision’ as he branded his suggestions of transferring cash directly into the accounts of the poor and migrant workers as a scheme already rejected by the people of the country.

Speaking to CNN-News18 in an exclusive interview, Shah said “some people have a crooked vision. They can’t see anything straight” after being asked about Gandhi’s demands that the government transfer Rs 7,500 directly into the accounts of the migrant workers for the next six months.

The former Congress chief had consulted renowned economists — former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan and Nobel Laureate Abhijit Banerjee — and has demanded the cash transfer for families of migrant workers hit by the lockdowns.

The home minister said Gandhi is roaming around with his scheme of putting Rs 7,500 in every back account since before the general election last year.

“Even before the election, he had floated this scheme with the name Nyay. But the people of the country rejected this. Maybe he doesn’t know it has been rejected and that it has been a year. Despite that, his cassette is stuck there,” he told Network18’s Editor-in-Chief Rahul Joshi.

He listed the steps the government has taken to help the poor during the coronavirus cases, including the transfer of Rs 53,000 crore to 41 crore poor through the Direct Benefit Transfer scheme, Rs 20,000 crore transfer for 20 crore Jan Dhan account holders and Rs 2,814 crore for 3 crore senior citizens, widows and disabled people, among other steps.

He added that the Centre has also given 8.2 crore farmers Rs 16,394 crore and Rs 4,000 crore aid to construction workers. “In addition to this, we have given 7.5 crore free cylinders and if the cost is added then it comes to Rs 1,600 per family,” he said.

The government, he further said, is distributing 98 lakh metric tonne of wheat and rice as well as 4.75 lakh metric tonne of pulses. “What is all this if not cash support,” he answered with a question when asked if more cash transfers will be considered in the future.

Once again calling Gandhi as one with "crooked vision", Shah said, “The people of this country know these people with crooked vision very well and doesn’t take them seriously and doesn’t fall for their claims.”

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