BJP will come back with 300+ seats: Goyal
NEW DELHI: Railways minister Piyush Goyal on Friday credited the NDA government with rescuing and strengthening an economy that he said was in a shambles when it took office, and empowering citizens by providing them new platforms for innovation and entrepreneurship to flourish.
“We have absolutely not lost the narrative on the economy,” the minister, who held charge of the finance portfolio during the months that Arun Jaitley was away recuperating from a surgery earlier this year, said in response to a question at the at the 16th Hindustan Times Leadership Summit.
The BJP-led NDA government’s handling of the economy has been questioned by opposition members amid a weakening rupee, high fuel prices, the piling-up of bad loans in the banking system and agrarian distress caused by sliding commodity prices. On Thursday, to ease the pain of consumers, the government cut the prices of petrol and diesel by Rs 2.5 per litre and urged state governments to follow suit. Goyal said he was confident that the BJP will return to power in the 2019 general elections with 300 plus seats (it won 282 in 2014) and the NDA will get a two-thirds majority in the Lok Sabha. “We believe in action and people know we have achieved a lot in the past four years,” he said.
On Indian Railway, the minister outlined the improvements carried out in infrastructure by the NDA government and shared data on changes brought about in the world’s second biggest rail network.
In 201314, 118 accidents were caused at unmanned railway crossings, which in the last six months has come down to 3. Nearly 5,000 of the 5,500 unmanned crossings have been eliminated, the rest will be completed by yearend.
Railways minister, Piyush Goyal, on Friday credited the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government with rescuing and strengthening an economy that he said was in a shambles when it took office, and empowering citizens by providing them new platforms for innovation and entrepreneurship to flourish.
“We have absolutely not lost the narrative on the economy,” the minister, who held charge of the finance portfolio during the months that Arun Jaitley was recuperating from a surgery this year, said in response to a question at the at the 16th Hindustan Times Leadership Summit.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led NDA government’s handling of the economy has been questioned by opposition members amid a weakening rupee, high fuel prices,the piling up of bad loans in the banking system and agrarian distress caused by sliding commodity prices. On Thursday, to ease the pain of consumers, the government cut the prices of petrol and diesel by 2.50 per litre and urged state governments to follow suit.
In 2014, when the NDA came to power, Goyal said, the economy was in a shambles on every parameter. Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, and finance minister, Jaitley, he said, successfully steered the economy back to growth, built up foreign exchange reserves, lowered inflation that was in double digits and started addressing the mess left behind in the banking sector by the previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government.
Goyal said the rupee had depreciated by just five rupees, or 7%, against the dollar in the past five years. “This is the slowest depreciation .... show me any period which had such a golden run as far as the currency is concerned,” the minister said.
He also debunked Opposition claims that the government had failed to generate a sufficient number of jobs, citing new avenues opened up for employment outside of government jobs. “People have aspiration for much more...this government is focused on encouraging entrepreneurship and innovation,” he said, emphasising that the nature of employment was changing and the people need to understand that. The government has initiated programmes such as Startup India and offered loans at soft interest rates to encourage fledgeling companies.
Goyal said he was confident that the BJP will return to power in the 2019 general elections with 300 plus seats (it won 282 in 2014) and the NDA will get a two-thirds majority in the Lok Sabha. “We believe in action and people know we have achieved a lot in the past four years,” he said.
On the regular barbs against the BJP by its Maharashtra ally, the Shiv Sena, the Union minister, who comes from Mumbai, said the ruling party was “numero uno” in the state and would win in both the Lok Sabha and assembly elections in the state.
Goyal compared the BJP’s relation with the Shiva Sena in Maharashtra to a marriage that has its ups and downs. He expressed confidence that the Sena will contest the next round of elections with the BJP as an ally.
Goyal ridiculed Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s comment in his keynote address at the summit, which is based on the theme ‘Reimagining the Future,’ that the ruling dispensation was trying to recast the nation in the mould of one stultifying imagination while his party had a vision of an India of 1.3 billion imaginations. Goyal likened it to the imagination of Sheikh Chilli, a fabled character known for building castles in the air.
“We are working on the imagination of Mahatma who called for Congress to wind up shop,” he said. “We have reached out to the imagination of the poor day in and day out”.
On Indian Railways, the minister outlined the improvements carried out in railway infrastructure by the NDA government and shared data on changes brought about in the world’s second biggest rail network.
“In 2013-14, 118 accidents were caused at unmanned railway crossing, which in the last six months has come down to three. Nearly 5,000 of the 5,500 unmanned crossings have been eliminated and rest will be completed by the end of this year,” he said.
He also spoke about efforts to improve toilets in railways, increasing capacity to introduce new and modern railway coaches and railway catering.