New Delhi: "The worst result for the country right now would be a fractured mandate. This will lead to instability," said BJP leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, in conversation on Google Hangout organised by Network18 on Tuesday evening.
In the first part of the series organised by Network 18 and Google, Jaitley, who is BJP's Lok Sabha candidate from Amritsar, was candid about the BJP's electoral gameplan and future policy measures in his replies to questions posed by online viewers.
"I am a part of the 272-seat club, we believe the NDA can reach this figure. Therefore we have expanded the coalition."Jaitley was also critical of the Aam Admi Party's (AAP) take on honest governance trumping stability, saying no coalition with AAP in its ranks could hope for a stable government.
Jaitley was also dismissive of the AAP's impact on his party's fortunes, saying: "AAP is our opponent only on TV, on the ground the Congress is our opponent." About his own entry into the fray in Amritsar, Jaitley remarked that he had been involved in election planning in polls in the past and it was decided that he would enter "the heat and dust of the Lok Sabha" this time.
On his Congress opponent Capt. Amarinder Singh's remarks about him, Jaitley pointed out that his family was intimately connected to Amritsar and he was more a local than "someone from Patiala." Significantly, he also asked whether Modi was a local from Varanasi or Rahul Gandhi a local from Amethi.
Jaitley was also quick to allay fears that Narendra Modi in power at the Centre would autocratic. "A state might be run by a single person, such as a Chief Minister. It is a different matter at the Centre. We will fully exploit Modi's charisma in running the elections; in running the government he will lead a team. This won't be Modi's personal government, it will be a national government."
Jaitley also denied that ticket controversies regarding senior leaders were caused by Modi's decisions. "He hardly speaks at electoral meetings of the party. It is unfortunate that Jaswant Singh could not be adjusted. I still hope he (Jaswant) will withdraw his nomination papers." However, on allegations that new BJP members were given a disproportionately large number of tickets, jaitley said that his party had fought a lot of elections to lose, and it was time to fight to win, and that only a small percentage of the tickets had gone to new members.
About the NDA's partners in the states, Jaitley expressed confidence that the coalition would win 30-35 seats in Maharashtra and played down the view that a weakened Shiv Sena would affect the NDA's performance in the key state.
Jaitley however was clear that the country needed decisive governance and stability at the moment, and a government not afraid of taking hard decisions.
However, regarding economic reforms, he felt the new government would begin with easy decisions before tackling more difficult ones. He also denied that Modi had not been forthcoming on specifics about economic policy. "He is of the view that one need not go into specifics at this stage. However, in previous public forums, both Modi and I have discussed these specifics at length," Jaitley pointed out.
Jaitley also outlined his views and the NDA's on future policies. Regarding the gas price hike, while personally supporting the cost price mechanism, he remarked the new government would take a call on it. "The idea is to make sure neither companies nor the people suffer the burden of costs."
Among the other issues he discussed was the vexed matter of India's urbanisation process. "Urbanisation is inevitable, so while the current process of developing suburbs will continue, the long-term focus will be on developing 100 smart cities, connected with roadways and superfast train networks," he said.
On Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in retail, Jaitley said his government was not in favour of it till the domestic retail sector was strong enough to meet challenges. "Without that, we will have American and Chinese goods in our shops and Indian salesboys,"he remarked.
However, Jaitley was clear the new government at the Centre would try to strengthen the country's federal structure. "There are more than 7 lakh files on pending projects across the country. This process can be sped up by including state governments in the decision-making process."
On judicial reforms, Jaitley said one solution he was in favour of was increasing the number of sitting judges by 10 per cent every year, so that every decade the number of judges would be doubled, and would be able to handle the increased caseload. On the matter of increased security for women, he said that despite stricter laws against gender-related crimes, repeat offenses such as the Shakti Mills case had occurred. "The key is to start a massive education of society to sensitise them about the issue."
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