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Gadkari says Modi Govt won polls on unrealistic promises, Cong agrees wholeheartedly
Described as a ‘two-man show’ to refer to the total domination of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah over government and BJP, there is one man who is not in their control.
Union Road and Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari has once again put them on the backfoot with a statement in a reality show that BJP made false promises in 2014 Lok Sabha elections, not expecting it would come to power and be held to account for them.
This has given fresh fodder to the Congress. Sharing the video on Twitter, Congress said Gadkari had proved that the BJP government was “built on jumlas and fake promises”. The video was also tweeted by Congress chief Rahul Gandhi.
The video, which is part of an interview with a Marathi television channel, shows Gadkari speaking about how the BJP never estimated to come to power in 2014. Bollywood actor Nana Patekar also appeared as a guest on the show. Both Nana Patekar and the minister are seen laughing at Gadkari’s statement.
“We were very confident that we can never come to power. So our people suggested us to make tall promises. If we don’t come to the power, we won’t be responsible anyways. Now people remind us of our promises…we just laugh and move on,” Gadkari says. Ironically, in an answer to a separate question, the minister says the party needs to be more open and transparent to the public.
Gadkari made his statement in an episode of a Marathi reality show ‘Assal Pavhane, Irsal Namune’ that was aired on Colours in two parts on 4 and 5 October. The first part of the episode, titled “When politics meets cinema”, was aired on 4 October, the second part, “Comic banter between Nana and Nitin”, was available to viewers on 5 October.
The Congress was quick to pounce upon the minister’s comments. “Good to see Union Minister Nitin Gadkari concurring with our view that the Modi government was built on jumlas and fake promises,” the party tweeted. Gandhi also took a dig at the Modi government, saying, “You are right (Gadkari). Even the people think that the BJP used their dreams and faith for the party’s gain to come to power.”
सही फ़रमाया, जनता भी यही सोचती है कि सरकार ने लोगों के सपनों और उनके भरोसे को अपने लोभ का शिकार बनाया है| pic.twitter.com/zhlKTrKHgU
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) October 9, 2018
In August, Gadkari had left the government red-faced after he said that reservation would not guarantee employment as jobs were shrinking in the country while referring to the Maratha agitation.
“Let us assume that reservation is given. But there are no jobs. Because in banks, the jobs have shrunk because of IT. The government recruitment is frozen. Where are the jobs?” he had said, giving the Opposition ammo to attack the government.
Earlier, another BJP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy, in an exclusive interview to The Quint, criticised his own party, saying that Modi’s own ministers didn’t understand a thing about economics.
“There is not even a single minister in the Union Cabinet who understands anything about economics. Not everyone is capable of understanding the Arthashastra,” he had said.
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Rahul Gandhi claims Congress is winning upcoming elections in Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi expressed his confidence in his party’s ability to win the upcoming legislative elections in Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Rajasthan on Sunday. The Wayanad MP asserted at an event in the nation’s capital that there is no way we are not going to win any of them.
They are really close and he thinks they will be able to win, he said. Rahul Gandhi said, right now, he would say we are probably winning Telangana, they are definitely winning Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, and Rajasthan. By the year’s conclusion, elections are scheduled for the aforementioned states, he said.
The Congress MP said that the BJP wins districts and doesn’t allow the opposition to create a narrative as an important lesson that the party learned in Karnataka, where it staged a comeback earlier this year with overwhelming majorities.
He further said, they battled in a way in Karnataka that stopped the BJP from controlling the narrative, contrary to what they did there.
Gandhi claimed that the party sought to stray from the Opposition’s call for a caste census by using the insults leveled by BJP MP Ramesh Bidhuri against Bahujan Samaj Party MP Danish Ali as a distraction in the Lok Sabha.
He continued, every time we bring a topic to the table, they use this type of nonsense to divert, and they have now learned how to deal with it. They know that a caste census is a fundamental thing that the people of India want, and they don’t want to have that discussion.
Gandhi claimed that one of the key elements in Telangana, MP, and Chhattisgarh was controlling the narrative, which contributed significantly to Congress’ victory in Karnataka.
He stated, what we did in Karnataka was we provided the state with a clear vision and then we controlled the narrative.
Rahul Gandhi referred to the One Nation, one-election debate as one of the side problems the BJP used as an excuse to sidetrack from the important issues.
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Ganesh Chaturthi: Home Minister Amit Shah offers prayers at Mumbai’s Lalbaugcha Raja | Watch here
Amit Shah visited Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s official residence Varsha and offered prayers to the Ganapati idol installed there.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday visited Mumbai’s famous Lalbaugcha Raja Ganesh Pandal. On the auspicious occasion, the Home Minister along with his family offered prayers to Lord Ganesha. Every year, Amit Shah visits Lalbaugcha Raja to offer prayers to Lord Ganesha.
Lalbaugcha Raja is one of the oldest and the most popular mandals in the metropolis attracting around one crore devotees including celebrities and politicians. Celebrities who visited Lalbaugcha Raja to offer prayers to Lord Ganesh this year includes Shah Rukh Khan, Kartik Aryan, Vicky Kaushal, Pulkit Sharma, Manjot Singh and Varun Sharma, Varun Dhawan, Esha Deol, Sunny Leone, Urfi Javed among others.
Following his visit to Lalbaugcha Raja, Amit Shah visited Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s official residence Varsha and offered prayers to the Ganapati idol installed there. Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis was also seen along with the Home Minister seeking blessings from Lord Ganesha.
In the evening, Amit Shah is set to take part in the Laxmanrao Inamdar Memorial lecture, which will be organized at the Sir Cowasjee Jehangir Convocation Hall on the Fort campus of Mumbai University. He will depart for Delhi at 7 pm. According to an official statement from the Mumbai University, Governor Ramesh Bais, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Deputy CMs Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar will also attend the event.
The Memorial lecture is being conducted by the varsity in association with Sahakar Bharati, a pan-India organisation of Co-Operators and Co-Operatives, founded by Inamdar, popularly known as the ‘Vakil Saheb’ of RSS.
Earlier in the day, Union Home Minister Amit Shah was present at the first official meeting of the High-Level ‘One Nation, One Election’ Committee that took place under the chairmanship of former President Ram Nath Kovind. The first meeting was held at Jodhpur hostel.
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One Nation, One Election: Former President Ram Nath Kovind chairs first official meeting in Jodhpur
During the meeting, the members decided to hold discussion and get suggestions from the stakeholders and the political parties on the idea of the ‘one nation, one election’.
The first official meeting of the High-Level ‘One Nation, One Election’ Committee was conducted on Saturday under the chairmanship of former President Ram Nath Kovind. The first meeting was held at Jodhpur hostel. The meeting witnessed the participation of the Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Union Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal and former Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Ghulam Nabi Azad among others.
During the meeting, the members decided to hold discussion and get suggestions from the stakeholders and recognised national political parties on the idea of the ‘one nation, one election’, according to reports. In addition, the committee members also decided that if any of the political parties want to seek an appointment with the committee, it will be allowed to give their suggestions.
The committee members also deliberated to get the views of the stakeholders like the Election Commission of India, Law Commission Of India and other bodies. Reportedly, the members also primarily discussed how the committee will function and on which issues it needs to have deliberations with the concerned to build a consensus on the idea of the ‘one nation, one election’.
Furthermore, the panel also discussed how it needs to examine various scenarios for the simultaneous elections and make recommendations on how situations like a hung assembly or adoption of a no-confidence motion will be tackled.
Along with Kovind, Azad and Shah, Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, former chairman of the 15th Finance Commission N.K Singh, former Secretary General of Lok Sabha Subhash Kashyap, senior advocate Harish Salve and former Chief vigilance Commissioner Sanjay Kothari are the other names, who are the part of the eight-member panel.
However, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury declined an invitation to be part of the eight-member committee formed by the Union government to examine the ‘One nation, One election’ concept. The Congress leader also did not attend the first official meeting in Jodhpur. As per reports, the committee will look into the feasibility of holding not only Lok Sabha and assembly elections simultaneously, but also elections to municipalities and panchayats.
