TOI: Congress’s guarantees played a big role in its victory in the assembly polls in Karnataka and Telangana. Do you think ‘Modi ki guarantee’ can trump them?
PM Modi: For me, guarantee is far more than a word. It is a very sacred expression for me. It is linked to my hard work and my credibility. It is an outcome of my entire life in public service.
When I speak about guarantee, it pushes me to work even harder for the people. When I attach such importance to my guarantees, naturally people also realise it. People see that whatever guarantee Modi gives, he fulfills it, no matter what the circumstances.
From providing tap water connections to rations, from building houses for the poor to expressways, Modi is delivering on the guarantees made to people. There are no ifs and buts to Modi’s guarantees.
For the Congress party, their promises are just a way to fool people to gain their votes.
They have neither credibility nor the intention to fulfil their promises.
"They had given many guarantees since Independence. Look at what happened to the biggest guarantee given by their tallest leader: the one of removal of poverty in 1971.
Successive Congress PMs had spoken about removing poverty but nothing happened for decades. The poor were living without basic necessities like a house, toilet, water connection. Corruption continued unabated.
"Countries which became independent around the same time as India marched way ahead of us in terms of their economies. India was considered as one of the ‘Fragile Five’ nations before we came to power. So, for the people, there is no comparison between Modi’s guarantees and Congress’s broken promises."
TOI:
Is one nation, one poll going to be on the top of your ‘to do’ list in the third term? What about UCC? Will the Centre be an enabler or leave it to states?
PM Modi:
For the longest time, govts have been driven by electoral considerations rather than national considerations. Every year, there would be some or other election taking place and the priority would always be to win the next election, even if it meant trading off the long-term interests of the people of India.
It is a matter of concern for us. One nation, one poll is going to ensure that as a nation, our time, effort and resources get invested more productively towards nation-building. A high-level committee, under the chairmanship of former President Ram Nath Kovind, has already submitted a report to President (Droupadi Murmu) prepared after extensive consultations with stakeholders and experts and research on implementing one nation, one poll. In our third term, one will see concrete steps being taken on the matter.
Uniform Civil Code, too, is one of the core agendas of our party. Already, BJP govts in states are mulling over its implementation.
Uttarakhand has become the first state to implement UCC.
It is clear that separate laws for communities are detrimental to the health of society. We cannot be a nation where one community is progressing with the support of constitutional norms while the another community is stuck in a time warp due to appeasement.
We will do everything in our capacity to make Uniform Civil Code a reality in India.
TOI:
Your opponents in Karnataka and elsewhere have raised the issue of a NorthSouth divide, claiming the Centre discriminates against southern states. Do you see merit in it or is it driven by their need to fund their guarantees?
PM Modi:
Raising the false bogey of discrimination is their way of diverting and distracting from their corruption and misgovernance. People of Karnataka proudly sing Jaya Bharata Jananiya Tanujate, Jaya he Karnataka Maate (Victory to you Mother Karnataka, the daughter of Mother India).
Does Congress really think its move to further divide India will be accepted by the immensely patriotic people of Karnataka?
Every patriotic Indian will reject this artificial and false divide that Congress is trying to create. Congress, in partnership with the Left, has left Kerala nearly bankrupt and is now seeking to do the same in Karnataka and Telangana. It has just been one year since Congress came to power in Karnataka and they have already done serious damage to its thriving economy.
Debt incurred by the state govt has massively increased and their empty promises have not resulted in providing welfare to people. In fact, their misgovernance has spooked investors and led to flight of capital from Karnataka. There has been a 46% reduction in FDI and 80% reduction in funds for startups compared to last year in the state.
TOI:
What is your worry about the current pitch for redistribution of assets? You have said the govt should not be expropriating wealth and assets of people and that a plan to do that is a reflection of the Maoist vision which has caused havoc in so many countries. Do you see this as a real threat?
PM Modi:
"We should not consider this sinister plan of the Congress party like an idle threat, the threat is very real and stands to hurt our nation irreversibly. This is a clear example of Maoist thinking and ideology. It is saddening to see the Congress party and its Yuvraj carrying forward such Maoist vision which is a recipe for disaster. You would have seen the Yuvraj saying that we will do an X-ray. This X-ray is nothing but raiding every home.
"They will raid farmers to see how much land they possess. They will raid the common man to see how much wealth he/she has earned through hard work. They will raid the ornaments of our women. Our Constitution protects the property of all minorities.
This means that when Congress talks of redistribution, it cannot touch the properties of minorities, it cannot consider waqf properties for redistribution but it will eye the properties of other communities.
This will sow complete and irreversible communal disharmony.
This is something we have to be very careful about, we cannot let anyone harm the country and its people, whatever reasons they may have.
Our nation, the welfare of each and every one of our citizens is our first and foremost priority. Our govt doesn’t design policies to benefit a majority, we do not make policies that will benefit minorities; we make policies that benefit our nation and its 140 crore citizens without discrimination.
TOI:
Barring Ram Mandir, there has been no emotive issue in play this time around. You seem to be optimistic that people will consider improvements in their lives and prospects and give you a ‘positive’ vote.
Cases relating to Kashi and Mathura temples are in court. Rather than wait for a lengthy legal process, can these issues be sorted out by discussions between religious leaders of both communities?
PM Modi:
Yes, Ram Mandir is an emotive issue for the people of our country. It is a civilisational struggle of 500 years which has been resolved and the prayers of generations of Indians have been answered. But you are wrong in saying there is no other emotive issue.
A ‘mahila’ getting a tap water connection, LPG connection, toilet and becoming a Lakhpati Didi and having the power to dream of a better future is an emotive moment for her and her entire family. For a youth who wants to start his own business and provide for his family and has aspirations to further expand his operations, getting a collateral-free Mudra loan is also a big emotive moment.
A ‘kisan’ getting his ‘samman’, a father being able to provide the best treatment to his child due to Ayushman Bharat Yojana, a street vendor opening a second cart due to PM-SVANidhi and transacting entirely on UPI: all these mark emotive moments for the entire country. Improvement of living standards is an emotive issue which is resonating strongly in this election.
For a large number of people of this country, they are seeing for the first time that they can have a better future and achieve their dreams, which is an emotive issue for them.
As far as Kashi and Mathura are concerned, I will not comment much as the cases are sub judice. But we are committed to developing our cultural heritage. Our manifesto speaks about the aim to boost cultural tourism across the country and develop temple spaces and cultural spaces of all religions in India as world-class destinations for pilgrimage and tourism.
The massive development taking place in our temple towns will not only help the pilgrims but also the local economy.
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