(This story originally appeared in on Oct 17, 2016)

ALLAHABAD: BJP MP Subramanian Swamy said on Sunday he was satisfied with the work of the government but “unsatisfied with that of finance minister Arun Jaitley".Swamy was speaking at the India Political Centre Conclave organised here to delve into issues that would be crucial in the upcoming UP Assembly elections.Asked whether India could be a tax haven, or not, he said the way the economy was heading, the income-tax department should be closed and all taxmen engaged in projects like building roads.“I am unsatisfied with the finance minister and only PM knows how he is dealing with him,“ Swamy said.Commenting on the issue of politicising the surgical strike, Swamy said there was no harm in taking the issue to the people.“If Congress can politicise 1971, why cannot we? Government should boast of the work it has done and the surgical strike is no exception.We will be taking up the issue during the Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh,“ he asserted.On the issue of a uniform civil code, he said that if Muslims have no objection to a “uniform criminal code“, then why object to a uniform civil code. Article 14 of the Constitution advocates equal rights for all, but Mus lim women are not being given their rights, he said.Swamy said no party could ever win an election on the issue of development alone and that if the BJP succeeded in giving the impression that a Ram temple in Ayodhya would soon be a reality, then it would have a chance of winning the upcoming Assembly polls.Swamy said PV Narasimha Rao was the only Prime Minister under whom tremendous development took place but the Congress still lost the Lok Sabha elections. The Atal Behari Vajpayee government, too, lost the polls on the issue of development in 2004, Swamy said.So, if BJP thinks it can push the developmental agenda in the UP assembly polls slated for next year as well, then it is wrong, added Swamy.He claimed that law and order and the building of a Ram temple would be the two issues that could dominate upcoming elections.Given the state of lawlessness, Samajwadi Party will suffer most and will be placed above Congress in terms of seats, while Bahujan Samaj Party has no base apart from the dalits.However, if BJP returns to the temple agenda, which worked wonders for it in two elections, then no one will be able to stop the party from winning power in the Uttar Pradesh elections next year, Swamy added.