The campaigning has come to its last leg in Mumbai, the candidates are leaving no stone unturned to woo the voters. BJP’s candidate from Mumbai North-Central, Poonam Mahajan, has said that the BJP-led government is aiming to seed in Rs 20,000 crore for start-ups.
Poonam Mahajan in an interview told the Hindustan Times that, “We are aiming for Rs 20,000 crore seed money for start-ups.[It will be collateral free, as per the party manifesto]… We have a situation where a youth living in a slum can take Mudra loan [to start a small business] even without talking to a bank manager.” When she was asked about Modi government is facing criticism for failing to create jobs, she said, “We were among the fragile five nations before 2014, and now we are the sixth largest economy in the world. The strength of the economy lies in the youth and their aspirations. And that is what we looked at. A skill development ministry was created for people who do not connect with paramparik (traditional) jobs. Just being a job seeker is not enough; we need to be a job creator as well. That is why we have a start-up policy. “
In Mumbai North Central constituency the fight is going to be between sitting BJP MP Poonam Mahajan and Congress’ Priya Dutt. In 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Poonam Mahajan defeated Priya Dutt who had held the seat since her father Sunil Dutt’s death in 2005. While last time around the margin of defeat was nearly two lakh votes, it remains to be seen if Priya Dutt will be able to cover the gap this time and regain the seat for her party.