Mahagathbandhan is about dynasties: Modi

Countering the picture projected by the Opposition of a gloomy economic situation and claims of rising unemployment, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said more than one crore jobs have been created in the last one year, hence, the campaign of lack of jobs needs to stop now.

In an exclusive interview to ANI, the Prime Minister also touched upon various other important issues, including the National Register of Citizens (NRC), Goods and Services Tax (GST), women empowerment and India-Pakistan relations.

He allayed concerns that the NRC will exclude Indian citizens and assured all opportunities will be given to people to get their concerns addressed. The PM also talked about Mahagathbandhan and said the Mahagathbandhan is about dynasties, not about development.

On India-Pakistan relations, the PM hoped that under the new Government, Pakistan would work for a safe, secure, stable and prosperous region, free from terror and violence.

On question of job creation, the PM said he has already given a detailed reply in the Lok Sabha during the debate on No Confidence Motion. He said the point which needs to be understood is that when economy is growing at a faster pace how will the jobs market not expand?

“When investment and the pace of execution of infrastructure projects like making roads, laying down rail lines, setting up power generation, including solar parks and transmission lines is at all-time high, how come the jobs will not be created. Similarly, if there is significant growth in sales of commercial vehicles and passenger vehicles, does it not mean that jobs are being created? When FDI inflows are at an all-time high, will it not translate into manufacturing and job creation?,” the PM said.

Modi went on to add that India had 2 mobile manufacturing units in 2014 where as it has now 120 such units. “When such development in electronic manufacturing is taking place, will it not create jobs? Today, India has emerged as one of the top hubs of start-ups. Are they not creating jobs? App-based aggregators are flourishing in India across food, logistics, e-commerce, mobility solutions and many more such sectors. Are they not creating jobs?  We all know the potential tourism has in creating jobs.

Foreign tourist arrivals in India grew by 14 per cent last year.

Domestic tourism has also grown. Will this not result in job creation?”

He referred to the boom in the aviation sector and wondered whether the job creation potential of schemes such UDAN are not appreciated. He also claimed that more than 13 crore MUDRA loans have been given to 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?

“These are only a few examples. 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. Thus, the campaign that jobs have not been created must come to a halt now. People are not going to buy it anymore,” he said.

On the Opposition charge that Modi opposed the GST as Chief Minister of Gujarat and then supported it as PM, Modi said, “The ‘Know It All’ Finance Minister refused to listen to the concerns of the various State Governments and adopted a ‘my way or the highway’ approach. Not only Gujarat, but most States did not trust the UPA Government to be fair with them. They had not paid the GST compensation to the States which were promised. They were also unwilling to provide GST compensation to the States if they suffered losses in the first 5 years. It is only when the NDA Government discharged the liability of the past GST compensation and agreed to pay compensation in the event of loss for the first 5 years that the GST was possible.”

On the controversy over the implementation of the Supreme Court mandated NRC, the PM said only those who have lost faith in themselves, fear loss of popular support and lack faith in our Institutions can use words like ‘civil war’, ‘blood bath’ and ‘Desh Ke Tukde Tukde.

“Evidently, they are disconnected from the pulse of the nation. As far as Mamataji’s stand is concerned, she should remember what she said on the floor of Parliament in 2005. Was that Mamataji correct or is this Mamataji correct?” he asked.

He also accused the Congress of playing politics over the NRC. “The roots of the NRC go back three decades, when Rajiv Gandhi had to bow to public pressure and sign the Assam Accord. Since then Assam voted Congress several times but the party did nothing about it and kept misleading the people.  Congress knew a problem exists but allowed it to fester for decades because they were guided by vote bank politics. I want to assure the people that no citizen of India will have to leave the country. As per the due process, all possible opportunities will be given to get their concerns addressed. The NRC was a promise of ours, which we are fulfilling under the guidance of the Supreme Court. It is not about politics but about people. If someone is making it about rajaneeti, it is extremely unfortunate. Our job in the political class is to work according to the will of the people and do what they have given us the mandate for,” he said.

On charges that he is silent on crime against women and incidents of mob lynching, the PM said, “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.

“Even a single incident is one too many and deeply unfortunate. Everyone should rise above politics to ensure peace and unity in our society. My party and I have spoken in clear words, on multiple occasions against such actions and such a mindset. It is all on record. Also, we are people who go beyond just words. Look at the actions of our Home Ministry to see how we have acted against violence,” he said.

On how  the BJP was    planning to combat the Opposition’s  Rs Mahagathbandhan’ in 2019, the PM said  the  Opposition parties are so convinced about our Government’s popularity that they have no faith in their ability to fight us individually.

“These parties had lots of time to prove their worth to the people. But they indulged in corruption, nepotism and mis-governance. Now they know that their electoral arithmetic based on caste, class,  community and religion cannot withstand the chemistry of development. This happened because of people’s unflinching trust in BJP’s politics of development and their validation of the work the government is doing.  Election after election and in State after State, people are repeatedly choosing the BJP to fulfill their aspirations. People have witnessed firsthand the change in their lives through the efforts of the Central Government. They have also seen that our Government is incorruptible and hard-working,” he said.

Modi said people have clearly recognised the difference between these parties and the BJP and hence the Opposition has no option but to make it an ‘All versus One’ fight to even think about winning. He said  those who resisted the Emergency are standing with those who imposed it.

“Those who went about trying to fight corruption are with the party that has institutionalised corruption at all levels. Parties with a visceral hatred towards the Left ideology and parties espousing Left ideology are sharing stage.

“Parties whose very existence depended on fighting each other are now friends. 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,” he said.

On whether he was open to dialogue with Pakistan Prime Minister-elect Imran Khan, the PM said, “I have always said we wish to have good neighbourly relations. We have also taken various initiatives in this regard. I recently congratulated Imran Khan on his victory in the elections. We hope that Pakistan would work for a safe, secure, stable and prosperous region, free from terror and violence.”