New Delhi: Calling the Opposition parties’ alliances in various states as a “political circus,” Union minister Arun Jaitley said these ‘gathbandhans’ have no leader or any agenda other than “remove one man(Narendra Modi)” and are “a recipe for chaos.” The senior BJP leader said Indian voters now judge politicians by their merit and capacity and not by traditional loyalty and are well aware of of the past track record of governments formed with no people centric agenda.
In a blog post titled “A Political Circus Called ‘Mahagathbandhan’”, Mr Jaitley wrote how India was “exhausted with the talk of a ‘Mahagathbandhan’ which was going on in the opposition camp for the past few months. He said the rationale was that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP were very strong and could not be challenged by individual party but the Indians now judge politicians by their merit and capacity and not go by any traditional loyalty. Pointing opposition parties alliances in various states, Mr Jaitley said there is no “gathbandhan” let alone “mahagathbandhan”.
Taking a dig at the Congress, Mr Jaitley wrote that it was told ny regional satraps that it was “unwanted” and in Bihar “the hiccups in the alliance are evident.” Apparently hinting at Patna Sahib MP and actor-turned-politician Sharughan Sinha, who is scheduled to join the Congress, Mr Jaitley said “some eminent former BJP men have been accepted by the Congress as a gift” and thanked it adding “Our problem is now theirs.”
Mr Jaitley said in the opposition camp, each party leader is interested to see the other party’s strength depleting and also have high hopes in a chaotic and highly hung Parliament.
“He/ she believes that only in a chaotic situation he/she has a chance,” said the senior BJP leader.
He wrote that the past track record of such governments in terms of policy, longevity and growth has to be borne in mind, adding that their track record of corruption is equally well-known. He asserted that it is only because of the size of the BJP and clarity on leadership in the last coalition that a successful government was run under Mr Modi.
“Stability, which is paramount, is a major casualty. The only thing in common (in the opposition camp) is negative agenda ‘remove one man.’ It is a recipe for chaos,” said the Union minister.
