‘Achche din’ a continuous process, says Piyush Goyal

Mumbai: Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader and railway minister Piyush Goyal on Friday said the Narendra Modi government would seek another mandate in 2019 on the theme of development and continuation of ‘achche din’ for the people.

Goyal was responding to a question whether the BJP-led government had achieved the objective of ‘achche din’ it projected in the 2014 polls. “It is somewhat sad that some people don’t realise that achche din is a continuous process. In only four and a half years, this government has delivered on so many fronts and set new benchmarks of development which have brought about achche din for so many people. A lot has been done and a lot more needs to be done and we will seek a mandate to continue the good work and deliver a better future and times for our people,” the BJP leader said at a press conference here.

At its national convention in Delhi last week, the BJP decided to depute senior ministers to carry the message of development to the people ahead of the 2019 elections. Goyal exuded confidence that the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) would return to power with absolute majority. “We are quite confident that people will elect a majboot sarkar (strong government) rather than a majboor sarkar (meek government). Our national experience of majboor sarkar has left us frustrated and undeveloped. The previous government was headed by a weak prime minister who meekly surrendered to coalition compulsions. People don’t want a repeat of that,” Goyal said.

Asked the reason why the Modi government had introduced 10% quota for the poor from the general category when it was so sure that the development narrative would ensure its victory, Goyal said the decision was not taken factoring in electoral considerations. “The BJP does not look at elections when it takes decisions. You could ask why did we not take this decision two years back. But the fact of the matter is this proposal was under consideration for quite some time and a lot of thinking has gone into it. There are people who are left out of the process of development. This decision will help all those people who are poor and left out and who could be from any religion or community,” Goyal said.

The BJP leader from Mumbai said the BJP did not consider the Bahujan Samaj Party and Samajwadi Party alliance in Uttar Pradesh a potential threat. “We have carefully looked at it and carried out an assessment. Electoral politics is not driven by arithmetic alone. We are confident we will not only repeat our 2014 performance in Uttar Pradesh but also win a seat more,” Goyal said. He stated that the BJP was aiming to get 51% of the vote share in 2019 that would comfortably ensure its victory.