Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Amit Shah on Friday said achhe din, or better days, were here at least for some.
The promise of better days was a key election slogan of the BJP in the run-up to the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. However, a year later, Shah was ridiculed by the Opposition when he had said in a television interview the promise was a chunavi jumla, or election slogan.
But on Friday, addressing a press conference to mark three years of the Modi government, Shah said he was aware that analysts were mocking the slogan. The BJP chief maintained that the Narendra Modi government’s schemes have ensured better days for the underprivileged. “The people of India have put their stamp of approval on this government.”
Shah said better days were indeed here for 20 million poor households that the government has provided with cooking gas cylinders under the Ujjwala scheme, for the women of 45 million households, where toilets have been constructed, and for the 75 million self-employed people who have received bank loans under the Mudra scheme.
The BJP chief also disagreed with criticism that job growth has plummeted. He said the Modi government had given the country a “naya drishtikon” (a fresh viewpoint) on job generation. He said it was “impossible” to give jobs to all in a country of 1.25 billion, but the Modi government has encouraged nearly 80 million people to be self-employed.
Shah said the current methods to capture job growth do not measure the increase in self-employed people. He also disagreed that the information technology sector was headed for massive job losses. “It hasn’t happened as yet. Please don’t trust all that you read in newspapers. People don’t,” Shah said.
The BJP chief vehemently disagreed that there was any attempt to muzzle either the Opposition or the media. When asked if the Modi government was behaving like the Indira Gandhi government during the 1970s, by launching investigations and raids on Opposition leaders, Shah shot back: “We haven’t imposed an Emergency. Please don’t compare us with Mrs Gandhi. We haven’t put curbs on your (media’s) freedom of expression.”
He said investigating agencies were doing their job based on facts. “The Opposition should have the courage to present their case to the media if they are being harassed without any basis,” the BJP chief said. Without mentioning the name of Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad, Shah asked how probe agencies can be expected not to investigate if benami property worth Rs 1,000 was found, or if Trinamool Congress members were caught on camera receiving money in the Narada chit fund cases.
The BJP chief said three years of the Modi government has restored India’s prestige. He said the past three years have brought about foundational changes in the country’s politics by ending the politics of casteism, dynasty and of appeasement. “We have achieved in three years what couldn’t be done in the 70 years after independence.”
The BJP chief reiterated the Modi government stood for the poor, backward classes, tribals, women and youth. He said there was not a single allegation of corruption against the Modi government. Shah included demonetisation as one of the successes of the government and highlighted the crackdown on black money and benami property.
Enumerating the successes of the Modi government, the BJP chief spoke about implementation of the goods and services tax, repeal of 1,100 obsolete laws and increase in allocations for the rural job scheme. “This is a transparent and a decisive government that has rescued India from policy paralysis,” he said.
On Kashmir, the BJP chief said he “appreciates” and “supports” the actions of Major Nitin Leetul Gogoi in Jammu and Kashmir, which saved the lives of Election Commission officials and security personnel.
On repeal of Article 370, Uniform Civil Code and building a Ram temple in Ayodhya, Shah said the BJP hasn’t forgotten its key ideological issues.