Rahul levelling corruption allegations on Modi for political gains: Gadkari
Nagpur: Union minister and senior BJP leader Nitin Gadkari has hit out at Congress president Rahul Gandhi, saying he is levelling corruption allegations against Prime Minister Narendra Modi for political gains, and asserted that Modi should be respected for the position he holds.
In an interview to PTI here ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, he also slammed Gandhi's proposed minimum income scheme to give Rs 72,000 per year to 20 per cent of the poor in the country, dubbing it a "populist slogan" and a "political strategy" to seek votes from the poor.
Dismissing the opposition's charge that the BJP sidelined veteran leaders like L K Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi, he said the party held them in high regard and drew guidance and inspiration from them.
He said any views of Advani were the words of the BJP and that "misquoting" him, by saying the saffron party terms the opposition as anti-national, was not correct.
"The way in which he speaks about the prime minister is not good. A prime minister does not belong to a party but the country and it is the duty of every citizen to respect and recognise the prime minister as a prime minister. Rahul Gandhi unfortunately uses very bad terminology," he said.
Criticising Gandhi's 'Nyunatam Aay Yojana' (Nyay), he said Rs 3,50,000 crore are required to implement it.
"Where will they get the money from? And, if they are using this money, how will they make budgetary provisions for other sectors like agriculture?" Gadkari said.
He said the need of the hour was to create good policies for better employment potential and increase in growth rate and per capita income.
"However, if populist slogans are made for political purpose, they may affect the economy. The credibility of Congress is not good," he said.
Gadkari said since 1947, the Congress has been raising the slogan of 'garibi hatao' (remove poverty).
"Then the 40-point programme, the 20-point programme, the 5-point programme, but nothing worked. This is only a political strategy and a political declaration to take votes from the poor," the road, transport and highways minister said.
Asked about the opposition's criticism that the BJP was sidelining its senior leaders like Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi, the minister they were the party's motivation.
"In every party, by law of nature, after some age, everyone has to retire. We have respect, regard and recognition for Advaniji and Joshiji. They are still our guide, philosopher, inspiration and motivation," he said.
"Everywhere - in media, corporates, film industry - there is an age limit for everybody, on the basis of that the party has taken a decision," he added.
Advani in a blog post last week said his party has never regarded those who disagreed with it politically as "anti-nationals" or "enemies" but only as adversaries.
Speaking about Advani's blog, Gadkari said the party holds the same view about anything spoken or written by him.
"We are all with Advaniji over the blog written by him. Even Modiji is with him. However, using some statement and misquoting him that we term the opposition parties as anti-national is totally wrong," he said.
"I feel in the spirit of whatever Advaniji has written in his blog, we are all of the same opinion and have no problem, but a section of media misquoted him to create confusion. The fact is that whatever Advaniji speaks or writes in his blog, we are all of same opinion," the minister said.
Gadkari said the Modi government's policies are aimed at creating more employment potential.
However, like there is a cycle in every business, the present agricultural crisis is a big issue but the government is trying to create more employment by creating irrigation facilities, agro-processing industries and diversification of agriculture towards energy and power sector and making plastic from ethanol, he said.
"These are the new innovations and research taken by our government which will create new jobs. Ultimately there is a cycle everywhere in the world. Some industries are in a good position, some bad," he noted.
"Today, real estate is facing a problem. The steel industry was in the past facing problems, but now is in a good position because we erased duty on import of steel," he said.
Strong policies have been put in place to generate employment, he said, adding that though it may take time, there will be strong positive results.
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PM Modi speaks to Iranian president, discusses 'serious' situation in West Asia
New Delhi (PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday night spoke to Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian over the phone and discussed the "serious situation" in West Asia.
Modi expressed deep concern over the escalation of tensions in the region and the loss of civilian lives as well as damage to civilian infrastructure.
The prime minister told the Iranian President that the safety and security of Indian nationals, along with the need for unhindered transit of goods and energy, remain India's top priorities.
“Had a conversation with Iranian President, Dr Masoud Pezeshkian, to discuss the serious situation in the region. Expressed deep concern over the escalation of tensions and the loss of civilian lives as well as damage to civilian infrastructure,” Modi said in a post on X.
The prime minister also reiterated India's commitment to peace and stability and urged dialogue and diplomacy to end the crisis.
The prime minister had spoken to leaders of several West Asian countries in the last 10 days in the wake of the coordinated offensive launched against Iran by the United States and Israel, in which the Islamic country's Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, was killed last month.
In retaliation, Iran has fired drones and missiles at Israel and US military installations around the Gulf region, including the global business and aviation hubs of Dubai and Doha.
Modi earlier spoke to the leaders of Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Jordan, Israel and Qatar, and expressed concern over the attacks on their countries, and condemned the violation of some nation’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
He also discussed the welfare and security of the Indian community residing in those countries.
Around 1 crore Indians live in the Gulf and West Asia. While about 10,000 Indian citizens live, study and work in Iran, more than 40,000 live in Israel.
