Published 23:18 IST, May 14th 2020
'Gold appropriation' row: Prithviraj Chavan clarifies; cites Monetization Scheme
After BJP slammed his suggestion of appropriating gold of all religious trusts, ex-Maharashtra CM Prithviraj Chavan claimed that his tweet had been twisted.
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After BJP slammed his suggestion of the Centre appropriating gold of all religious trusts, former Maharashtra CM Prithviraj Chavan on Thursday claimed that his tweet had been deliberately twisted. Posting a 2016 reply by former MoS Finance Jayant Sinha in the Lok Sabha, he stated that the Gold Deposit Scheme had been commenced by the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government. Noting that the Narendra Modi government had renamed it to the Gold Monetization Scheme in 2015, Chavan pointed out that 8 temples across Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir had deposited their gold as per the reply of Jayant Sinha. Moreover, the senior Congress leader announced that he would initiate legal action for the attempt to communalise his suggestion.
In 2015 Modi Govt renamed it to Gold Monetization Scheme. Many temples have pledged their gold according to answer given in Lok Sabha by Fin Min. I shall initiate appropriate action for intentional attempt to communalize my statement. (2/2)
— Prithviraj Chavan (@prithvrj) May 14, 2020
#Stimulus.@PMOindia Govt. must immediately appropriate all the gold lying with all the Religious Trusts in the country, worth at least $1 trillion, according to the #WorldGoldCouncil. The gold can be borrowed through gold bonds at a low interest rate. This is an emergency.PC
— Prithviraj Chavan (@prithvrj) May 13, 2020
BJP questions stance of the Congress party
According to Chavan, the gold worth $1 trillion could be borrowed by the Union government at a low-interest rate and utilised in the ongoing "emergency" COVID-19 situation. Lashing out at the former Maharashtra CM, former BJP Lok Sabha MP Kirit Somaiya questioned whether Congress president Sonia Gandhi had asked Chavan to put forth this demand. Thereafter, he asked the Congress party to clarify whether it backed Chavan's point of view.
BJP's Kirit Somaiya opined, "Prithviraj Chavan has demanded that the government should appropriate the gold lying in temples. I want clarification from Prithviraj Chavan that has Sonia Gandhi asked you to make this demand? Is this the stance of Congress? Is this the demand of the Chief Ministers of Congress-ruled states?"
Prithviraj Chavan has asked Government of India must take over gold of All Mandirs. Will he clarify Whether Sonia Gandhi ji, Congress, Congress ruled State Governments/Chief Ministers have supported his demand?? @Dev_Fadnavis @BJP4Maharashtra @ChDadaPatil pic.twitter.com/NVETUh7bI0
— Kirit Somaiya (@KiritSomaiya) May 14, 2020
23:17 IST, May 14th 2020