STATE TIMES NEWS
NEW DELHI: “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 on a wide range of election related issues during an elaborate and exclusive interview which the weekly “Open” put out for the first time in full today.
Certainly, the development of the last 10 years is beyond comparison, said Dr Jitendra. “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”.
The opposition was at a loss, said Dr Jitendra 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 Modi.
Accusing Congress and other members of the I.N.D.I.A. bloc for communalising the poll discourse, Dr Jitendra 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. Talking of bureaucracy, Dr Jitendra Singh said, the larger objective is about changing the way the government thinks about public service. Immediately after the government was formed in 2014, the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) issued a circular allowing self-attestation. Then interviews for many posts were abolished. The Staff Service Commission (SSC) conducted all the entrance examinations in just two or three languages. Now examinations are held in 13 languages and more are being added.