Better to sell pakodas than beg: Amit Shah in Parliament

It took a lot of time for this government to fill the "hole" it inherited from its predecessor, BJP President Amit Shah said in the Rajya Sabha Monday. Shah was making his debut speech in Parliament.

Shah said that taking that into consideration, his government's "achievements"should be looked at differently.

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Shah also referred to Prime Minister Modi's recent statement that a person selling pakodas should be seen as being employed. (The statement had been widely criticised.)

Shah however said Monday that he thought it better that somebody was working than begging. And that the children of the person selling pakodas would go on to become businessmen.

"A chaiwala's son,"he said, "is sitting in Parliament today."

He also spoke about "Modicare", this government's proposal to give 500 million people health insurance. The announcement was made by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in his Budget speech.

"No other government has had the courage to do it," Shah said.

Shah also spoke about the "surgical strikes", calling them a "historic moment".

"World started seeing India from a different view. They realised that after America and Israel, India is the only country which can protect its soldiers and army," Shah said.

Shah also said that "we handled the Kashmir issue very well". And that Kashmir has never been so safe in the last 35 years".