Union Minister Prakash Javadekar on January 20 remarked that the country would be in the grip of anarchy with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Taking potshots at the January 19 Opposition rally organised by the Trinamool Congress in Kolkata, Mr. Javadekar said: “All the Opposition parties who banded together during Saturday’s rally in Kolkata wish to overthrow Prime Minister Modi. But then who is the alternative? They are incapable of presenting an alternative… such is the condition in the country that if there is no Modi, there will be anarchy.”
Speaking to reporters in Pune, Mr. Javadekar dismissed suggestions that any grand alliance of Opposition parties could pose a threat to the BJP or Mr. Modi.
“The Kolkata rally exposed the nervousness of the Opposition as they did not draft any manifesto or a common minimum programme, but formed a panel on electronic voting machines. Does it mean they are already searching for an excuse for their anticipated defeat in the election,” he asked.
Remarking that the Lok Sabha elections were a mere 90 days away, the senior BJP leader expressed confidence that the party would win an absolute majority with even more seats than it had won in the 2014 elections, and an increased vote share.
He said that the party’s vote share in the States of West Bengal and Odisha would increase and it would perform significantly well in the northeastern States.
“The country needs a stable government… the forthcoming general election is going to be held on the question of whether the Indian public desires a majboot (strong) government or a majboor (weak) government and the country needs the solid governance provided by the BJP so far,” he said, remarking that the public had “suffered” during the coalition governments led by past Prime Ministers like I.K. Gujral, Chandra Shekhar and H.D. Deve Gowda.
“In contrast, the public has reaped the benefits and seen the advantages of a strong and policy-driven government led by Mr. Modi,” Mr. Javadekar said, accusing the Congress of deliberately wanting a weak government in order to indulge in more corruption.
He further informed that the BJP would be running their nationwide, prepoll programme titled Hamara ghar BJP ka ghar (our home is a BJP home) in a concerted fashion across the country till the model code of conduct came into effect.
“The drive urges every family or individual supporting the BJP to put up a flag with the party’s symbol as a show of solidarity. We will be running this programme till the election commission brings the code of conduct into effect,” Mr. Javadekar said.
