New Delhi: After defeating the opposition in key states like Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, BJP looks to be in a strong position and setting the tone for next year’s Lok Sabha elections, Union Minister Smriti Irani said that Prime Minister Modi will neither Moving forward and not moving forward. A personal agenda.
In an exclusive interview with ANI, the Lok Sabha MP from Amethi said the BJP-led Center has done enough work which can be shown to the people in the next general elections.
He said PM Modi never got votes to ‘maintain the status quo’ and does not need validation from ‘lutyens’ cozy clubs’ as he has the support of crores of Indians who elected him to office.
In the interview aired on Thursday, Irani also spoke candidly about the party’s plans for 2024.
“PM Modi never got the votes to maintain status quo. He has been CM and now PM. He has seen the BJP and Lutyens from a BJP and non-BJP perspective, as a political activist, as a member of (the) organisation, and a minister. Before this, he was a preacher. He went to every part of this country.
He knows better. He does not need the validation of Lutyens’ cozy clubs because he has the support of crores of Indians who elected him to office. I think before 2014, a lot of politics was based on ‘Who do you know in the corridors of power?’ Who can make good PR about you as a politician? That is why I was never heard about in my entire one and a half decade in BJP politics,” he said.
“16 percent of global economic growth can be attributed to our country. When was the last time IMF said this about India? Forget whether you have any political implications, doesn’t it make you proud? What is Congress’s position on PM Modi? He said, “The Prime Minister is saying Make in India, Congress is saying no! He has set the golden goal of a developed India by 2047. He asked everyone to come together.”
He stressed that the Prime Minister was not fighting to advance any personal agenda as the BJP has always raised staunch issues.
“The Prime Minister is not fighting on personal agenda. My leadership is not talking about the personal life of the Gandhi family. We’re talking about bigoted issues. “We have done the work that we can show.”
We have Jal Jeevan Mission in which 13 crore families are getting water for the first time. 13.5 crore people have been brought out of poverty. We have 10 crore families who received Ayushman Bharat assistance. More than three and a half crore people in rural parts of our country are digitally literate. As a government, we have distributed 100 crore vaccines. We have become the voice of the Global South. Irani said, “We have had the presidency of the G-20 and we have worked on it efficiently.”
“As a country we have a lot to show from our foreign policy to manufacturing policy,” he said. “India has performed so well on monetary policy, fiscal policy that now India is adding 16 percent to global growth.”
Taking a swipe at the Gandhi family, the Union Minister said, “In the age of social media, everything is developing except them.”
Irani said, “At one time the country had also seen that whatever the Gandhi family said was published. Today in the age of social media, everything is developing except them. They feel that what they have said is set in stone.” ,
On India partners TMC and AAP naming Mallikarjun Kharge as the block’s PM face, Irani said, “The name (of the future PM candidate) has not come from Mrs Gandhi. “This has come from parties that are not members of the Congress.”
“I can’t say anything until the official announcement is made. But the interesting thing for you is that this name does not come from Mrs. Gandhi. This has come from parties that are not members of the Congress. The difference is that right now you have 2 people who are already in the race, Rahul and his sister.
What is interesting to me is that if we say that we are breaking the tradition of dynasty rule, you have not got that declaration from Sonia Gandhi. On the contrary, Adhir Ranjan Chaudhary admitted that it is impossible to defeat Prime Minister Modi. The Union Minister said, “He is facing certain defeat, hence Kharge’s name is being discussed and Kharge ji is a retired politician and he has been told that we will consider it after winning the elections.”
