Slamming the idea of a Mahagathbandhan Prime Minister Modi said that the critical question was whether the grouping of opposition parties against the BJP would fall apart before the 2019 general elections or after it.
‘Let us understand the true character of the Mahagathbandhan. The Mahagathbandhan is for personal survival, not for ideological support. The Mahagathbandhan is for personal ambitions, not for people’s aspirations. The Mahagathbandhan is purely about power politics, not about people’s mandate. The Mahagathbandhan is about dynasties, not about development. The Mahagathbandhan is not about any union of minds or ideas, but about rank opportunism. The only question is whether they will break up before the election or after!,’ PM Modi said on Saturday in an interview published by news agency ANI.
PM Modi also lashed out at the Congress party for criticising the GST (Goods and Services Tax). ‘People who have seen only dacoits around them, will naturally think of dacoits only,’ he said. He accused Rahul Gandhi of provoking people against the GST.
‘Our GST model was acceptable to the states because we were sensitive. The Congress President (Rahul Gandhi) tried his best to provoke people against the GST during Gujarat legislative assembly election last year, why did the people reject him?’ asked Modi.
On Rahul Gandhi’s wink at his colleague right after hugging him in the Parliament during the no-confidence motion he said ‘it is for you to judge whether it was a childish act or not. And, if you are unable to decide that, watch the wink and you will get the answer.’
The main issues on which the Prime Minister expressed his views in the interview to the new agency ANI
- Mob lynching is criminal and the opposition should not politicise the issue and ensure that society remains integrated. “My party and I have spoken in clear words, on multiple occasions against such actions (lynching) and such a mindset. It is all on record. Even a single incident is one too many and deeply unfortunate. Everyone should rise above politics to ensure peace and unity in our society.”
“It would be a great travesty to reduce these incidents to mere statistics and then indulge in politics over them. That shows a kind of perverse mindset that looks at violence and criminality as something to be milked, instead of unitedly opposing”.
As per data compiled by the Ministry of Home Affairs, 45 persons were killed in 40 cases of mob lynching across nine states between 2014 and 3 March, 2018. - Alliance with PDP: ‘ After the death of Mufti Mohammad Sayeed there were hurdles in the fulfilling the expectations of the people and that is why without casting an aspersion the BJP opted out of power,’ PM said on BJP-PDP alliance.
- Job growth: He said that India is among the major economies of the world. “When economy is growing at a faster pace, in fact fastest among the major economies, how will the jobs market not expand?” He further questioned, “If there is significant growth in sales of commercial vehicles and passenger vehicles, does it not mean that jobs are being created?” He added that “Employment generation is also evident from 45 lakh new subscribers in the Employee Provident Fund and 5.68 lakh people joining the New Pension Scheme in the last nine months. All this has led to creation of more than one crore jobs only in the last year.”
- Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is at an all-time high, he said and that has a domino effect on the creation of jobs in the country. “When FDI inflows are at an all-time high, will it not translate into manufacturing and job creation?” he questioned.
Supporting his argument, the Prime Minister said, “From just 2 mobile manufacturing units in 2014 we have grown to 120. When such development in electronic manufacturing is taking place, will it not create jobs?” - UDAN, provides air connectivity is provided to unserved and underserved airports at a subsidized fare. He said, “Today India is seeing a historic boom in the aviation sector. Last year, over 10 crore people took a flight. Through UDAN scheme, we have put many places, particularly Tier-II and III cities on the aviation map. Will this not create jobs and opportunities across the board?”
- MUDRA Scheme: “More than 13 crore MUDRA loans have been given to our hardworking entrepreneurs. I have been told that over 3.5 crore of these loans have been given to first time entrepreneurs. Does every loan not create additional employment opportunities?” he added.
- Women empowerment: He highlighted schemes including Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’, Swacch Bharat Abhiyan, amendment to the Maternity Benefit Act which increases maternity leave to 26 weeks, Mission Indradhanush and Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana, Ujjwala scheme and the Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana (PMMY) under which over 13 crore loans have been given of which more than 70% have been given to women. He spoke about the Triple Talaq Bill and the Anti-Trafficking bill too.
(with inputs from ANI)
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