Dismissing opposition unity as an attempt by people who think “sum of a few zeros is greater than zero”, Minister of State for Electronics & Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar said the people of India appreciate the development momentum that the Narendra Modi government has shown in the last nine years and they will "speak" in the 2024 polls as they did in 2019 and 2014.
“If your entire unity is about disliking one person, and you have nothing positive to offer to 1.3 billion Indians who are all very anxious now to see India develop and continue the type of development that we have seen in the last nine years, and all you have is essentially gaali-galoch (bad-mouthing) or fear mongering and appeasement, if that’s all you have in 2023 after 76 years of Independence, then I think the people of India will certainly speak in 2024, as they have in 2019 and 2014,” he said at the CNN-News18 Townhall.
The people of India know what the future holds for them, what the opportunities are, the potential of this great nation is now unfolding in front of their eyes. No right thinking person will want to derail this momentum, he said.
His comments come as Opposition parties have convened a meeting to chart out a path to take on the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The meeting got a fillip on Sunday as Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal-led
AAP announced its support to Opposition unity after Congress backed its demand of opposing the BJP-led Centre's Delhi ordinance.
When pointed out that BJP has lost when opposition have united, as in the recent Karnataka elections, Chandrasekhar said that even though BJP has suffered losses, the saffron party’s vote share has always increased, along with people’s trust in Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
"Their (Opposition) unity appears devoid of any fresh ideas or innovations. These are desperate attempts to stay relevant. Their entire approach seems limited to hurling insults and indulging in fear-mongering. Despite their efforts to play the electoral game, it's evident that our vote share has actually increased," he said.
He said the opposition's attempts to forge unity through meetings in Patna and Bengaluru are desperate politics by parties trying to stay relevant.
Stating that some people believe the elections is about political arithmetic, he said the BJP has proved that it is about doing things for the people.
Refusing to be drawn into the discussion on the opposition face for top post, Chandrasekhar said: "I can see 15 faces. All of them on a good day don't get along with each other."
Calling the opposition leaders a group of dynasts who get together and hark back about the good old days of when the grandmother or father was in power, and thinking that 'Oh I wish I could get those cozy days back again', he said: "I think the train has left the station. This is certainly a new India. Today people want their parties to deliver, to give them more opportunities and take the country forward, and not back to the old unstable coalitions, same old weak economics and same old appeasement type of social chaos."
On other parties allying with the BJP, he said these are because of the policies of the BJP government. "They see the direction in which India is going."
On misinformation, Chandrasekhar said it is not the same as free speech. "We don't want to be heavy handed about it. We certainly want consensus," he said, adding that misinformation can be weaponised not just against the state, but also against individuals and organisations.
(Edited by : Pradeep John)
First Published: Jul 17, 2023 6:36 PM IST
