Union home minister Amit Shah Saturday talked about coalition politics and said, “politics isn’t physics, it’s chemistry.” He was addressing the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit (HTLS) on its final day, and the BJP is in talks with former Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh and former Shiromani Akali Dal leader Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa to forge an alliance with their parties ahead of the state assembly polls.
“We are talking to Captain saab (Amarinder Singh) as well as (former Akali Dal leader Sukhdev Singh) Dhindsa saab. It is possible that we will have an alliance with both (their) parties. We are talking to both parties with a positive mind,” Shah said.
Shah also ruled out the possibility of farmers’ protests impacting elections in Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, saying after the repeal of the agri laws, no other issue remains. He asserted that the BJP will form once again form the government in Uttar Pradesh with a comfortable majority. Assembly elections in Punjab and Uttar Pradesh will be held early next year.
On the farmers’ agitation, Shah said Prime Minister Narendra Modi showed a big heart to repeal the three farm laws.
“The prime minister showed a big heart to end the farmers’ protests, (saying) OK fine, if you think farm laws are not in favour of the farmers… repealed the three farm laws. Now I don’t think any issue is left in Punjab. The elections will be fought on merit,” he said. Asked if there had been any changes in the electoral atmosphere in western Uttar Pradesh, he said the impact of farmers’ protests was even less in the state.
“Politics is not physics but chemistry. When two parties join hands, their votes will be added is not a correct assumption according to me. When two chemicals combine a third chemical is created. “We have seen in the past when the SP and the Congress joined hands and later all three (SP, BSP and Congress) came together, (but) the BJP won the elections. People are aware. Coalitions formed on the basis of vote banks cannot guide people now,” he said.
Shah said the Uttar Pradesh elections are being fought under organisational in-charge and Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and the political leadership of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. “I have been to Uttar Pradesh. I can confidently say that the BJP will form a government in Uttar Pradesh with a thumping majority,” Shah said.
Shah emphasized that India was in a state of ‘policy paralysis’ before 2014, and it was changed by the present dispensation.
“It’s not accurate to assume that when two parties get together, the vote banks will add up. In UP, the BJP will win with a huge majority,” Shah said. He talked about how Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has transformed the country in the last seven years and listed the achievements of the Centre- the surgical strike, repeal of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“India witnessed a stable government after 2014. Before 2014, India was in a state of ‘policy paralysis’. India’s dignity suffered, every minister thought he/she is the prime minister. PM Modi has successfully solved many issues with patience and planning,” he said.
He mentioned how India’s dignity suffered before 2014, and said that every minister thought they were the prime minister and people started questioning the multi-party democracy. “The main reason was there was no delivery. PM Modi has successfully solved many issues with patience and planning.”
Listing several other development initiatives, Shah said, “If I go on, you will think it’s an excerpt from Mahabharata or Ramayana.” The home minister said that due to numerous steps taken by the Modi government, the forex increased from 473 billion to 640 billion.
He added that Prime Minister Modi included 80 crore people who were never a part of the country’s progress, said Shah, listing direct benefit transfer (DBT), poverty alleviation, rural electrification and other programmes launched by the government. The former BJP president said the Modi government also resolved the issues in the financial sector with discipline and reduced the share of non-performing assets (NPAs) of banks to a minuscule amount.
Shah said that India’s defence policy came out of the shadow of foreign policy and we gave a fitting reply to incursions from across the border by “surgical strikes”.
(With inputs from PTI)
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