BJP brought back country's gold mortgaged by UPA: Sambit Patra

Senior BJP leader Sambit Patra on Tuesday said in Lok Sabha that the country's gold mortgaged by the Congress-led UPA was brought back by the BJP government. He was speaking during a discussion on the Supplementary Demands for Grants Second Batch for 2024-25, Demands for Excess Grants for 2021-22 and General Discussion on the Budget for the State of Manipur for 2025-26 in the Lok Sabha.

"The UPA had mortgaged the nation's gold. In contrast, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi one lakh kg of gold was brought back to India in May 2024," Patra said, adding that this is the difference between the two dispensations.

Further attacking the UPA government, he said three power grids failed during its tenure in July 2012 and nine per cent of the world's population plunged into darkness.


In contrast, when the country's power demand broke all records in 2024 under the rule of BJP, there was no grid failure.

He further said there was a period during the UPA rule when they "recklessly" burdened the economy with "unplanned" spending and policy paralysis.

"In contrast, in our term...every rupee that flies out of the coffer of the exchequer is under the radar of ATC....ATC means A for accountability, T for transparency and C for clear vision of development," Patra said.

He also said that the government was providing relief to the Internally Displaced People (IDP) in Manipur.

The government, he said, has implemented a series of measures aimed at providing immediate relief, long term rehabilitation and economic stability for the IDP. These initiatives are for housing assistance and financial assistance, he said.

Patra took a dig at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership.

"Rohit Sharma is not unfit, but Rahul Gandhi is," he said.

All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen president Asaduddin Owaisi also participated in the discussions, seeking the government's assurance on the US threat to impose reciprocal tariff on India. He also raised concerns over the Manipur crisis.

"We want an assurance from the government that the US tariff will not be imposed on India on April 2," he said.