Excelsior Correspondent
NEW DELHI, May 28: “As the Lok Sabha elections proceeded, the Opposition’s false narratives fell apart, one after another, and voters learnt to distinguish the grain from the chaff. Opposition kept manufacturing one narrative after another but in vain.That’s because they had no answer to the huge development that has taken place under the Modi Government. And the development achieved is beyond comparison”.
These were some of the several observations made by Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh on a wide range of election related issues during an elaborate and exclusive interview.
Certainly, the development of the last 10 years is beyond comparison, said Dr Jitendra Singh. “For example, we had 145 medical colleges in the Government sector in over six decades till 2014, today we have added 260. You had 70-odd airports in 2014, you added double in 10 years and now you have 150 or so. You had 700 universities in the Government sector in the previous six decades and you have almost 300-odd added in 10 years. Metro construction was 600 metres per month and it is now 6 km a month. All this is so evident the opposition has no answers”.
Dr Jitendra Singh said, the welfare schemes are reaching the needy irrespective of caste, creed or vote-bank considerations. The lists of beneficiaries are prepared fairly. Collectors were asked to prepare lists of PM Awas beneficiaries without any consideration for caste or religion, he said.
The opposition was at a loss, said Dr Jitendra Singh and therefore, they seized on anything that came by. They spoke of the Covid vaccine in light of some reports. Then they said the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) would deprive people of citizenship whereas the law actually provides citizenship to those deprived of it-people who suffered untold hardships and deserved Indian citizenship. This was a false narrative. Then they said BJP would deprive Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) of reservation, which was never said by BJP and never thought of by anyone. All these narratives were sought to be created as they did not have any concrete issues to counter the 10 years of achievements whether in infrastructure or welfare schemes. Despite Covid, no one went to sleep hungry. The free ration scheme continues. And India’s economy rose from No 11 to No 5. These false narratives fell apart and voters have distinguished the grain from the chaff. Even family members, particularly women, may vote for Modiji.
Accusing Congress and other members of the I.N.D.I.A. bloc for communalising the poll discourse, Dr Jitendra Singh said, gradually, people have realised Congress and its allies have used religion as a vote bank. They have been at it for the last more than half-a-century. Congress has simultaneously allied with the Muslim League in Kerala and the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra. They are trying to hob-nob with all shades of extremist vote banks. And yet claim to be secular. They would provoke Hindu sentiments on certain occasions and then Muslim sentiments on another. This was a matter of convenience to garner votes.
Dr Jitendra Singh said, Prime Minister Modi will be credited by historians and political scientists for undoing this culture. He has presented a counter-culture. I have seen in Uttar Pradesh colonies and colonies where kutcha houses have been converted to pucca ones. I have asked some of the beneficiaries: “Did you vote for BJP?” They said they did not but now they are thinking afresh. The norm that you contest elections on the basis of religious sentiments no longer works. Younger people understand this and they realise this is the path to a better future.
About achievements of the departments associated with him, Dr Jitendra Singh said, “you saw India was the first to land on the south pole of the moon though we were behind in the space race. We were just beginning when the Americans stepped on the moon. Our mission is totally indigenous. Next year we will send a human to space and that is our programme too”. e addition if Indian experts join the mission. India has shown that it can take a lead in many of these fields.
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