In a stunning revelation, a company owned by the BJP President Amit Shah’s son, Jay Amitbhai Shah, grew by 16,000 times after Narendra Modi formed the government at the Centre and the former became the saffron party’s chief.
In an explosive piece, The Wire website wrote that the balance sheets and annual reports obtained from the RoC had revealed that in the financial years ending March 2013 and 2014, Shah’s Temple Enterprise Private Ltd. engaged in negligible activity and recorded losses of Rs 6,230 and Rs 1,724 respectively. In 2014-15, it showed a profit of Rs 18,728 on revenues of only Rs 50,000 before jumping to a turnover of Rs 80.5 crore in 2015-16.
However, a year after its worth increased by 16,000 times, Temple Enterprise Private Ltd reportedly wound up its operations by stopping its business activities altogether, declaring, in its director’s report, that Temple’s net worth had “fully eroded” because of the loss it posted that year of Rs 1.4 crore and its losses over earlier years.
Junior Shah’s lawyers, reported the website, have denied any wrongdoings but did not contest the phenomenal growth in the turnover of the company owned by junior Shah.
Meanwhile, the revelation has evoked sharp reactions from journalists and civil right activists. This is the first time questions of alleged impropriety have been raised against the person as high as Amit Shah in the BJP.
Now I know why Piyush Goel was happy when ppl lose jobs. Said they become businessmen (like Jay Shah who was given >10Cr loan by Goel’s PSU) https://t.co/AnHL7Nw4T1
— Prashant Bhushan (@pbhushan1) October 8, 2017
हर सत्ता के दौर में एक दामाद होता है/बहस चल पड़ी है/नया दामाद कौन है/वायर जुड़ रहे है/दस्तावेज़ मौजूद है/धमकी दी जा रही/लोकतंत्र मौन है ??
— punya prasun bajpai (@ppbajpai) October 8, 2017
Congress : Mera paas daamaad hai..
BJP : Mere paas betaa hai….Have a good sunday… https://t.co/znmwF7nqgv
— Abhisar Sharma (@abhisar_sharma) October 8, 2017
BJP changed slogan from Vikas ki Jai to ‘Jay ka Vikas’! Hardly any difference. Now we know where ‘Vikas’ is hiding? #AmitShahKiLoot
— Sharmistha Mukherjee (@Sharmistha_GK) October 8, 2017
Jay found Vikas. Rest of India still searching for #AccheDin
Modi’s Gujarat Model equals #AmitShahKiLoot https://t.co/hxVyXhD2x8— Rajeev Gowda (@rajeevgowda) October 8, 2017
Amit Shah is the most influential BJP functionary in the Modi government and despite being only a party president, he reportedly wields enormous clout even in the appointments and sackings of the cabinet ministers.
In the last cabinet reshuffle, Rajiv Pratap Rudy had confessed on record how the decision to sack him from the Modi cabinet was conveyed to him by Amit Shah’s office and not the Prime Minister.