Narendra Modi Mega Exclusive | World Will Only Trust Stable Government With Mandate, PM Tells News18

Cricket teams have a captain and so do kabaddi teams, but who is the captain of the INDIA bloc, asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi during an exclusive interview to Network18 amid the Lok Sabha elections in which he is batting for a third straight term. He said the world will only trust a stable government with a mandate, as opposed to the INDIA bloc that will be caught up in “shapat samaroh” (oath taking) while the country is in “sankat samaroh” (in peril) due to their “one year, one PM formula”.

The prime minister spoke to Network18’s group editor Rahul Joshi about the opposition’s “one-year-one-PM formula” and how regional aspirations within an alliance must be respected and honoured.

He added that the Congress has used power-sharing formulas in states like Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, but has never kept its word and betrayed its own leaders time and again.

In reference to his statement that if the INDIA bloc forms the government, they will have PMs in rotation since they have been unable to decide on one, Prime Minister Modi was asked if a coalition or a stable government will be more effective in the country.

“These are two different questions. See the character of the Congress. In Rajasthan, there was an internal conflict within the party. They made a formula that one would be the chief minister for 2.5 years and the other would be the chief minister for the next 2.5 years. It is a known formula. There was a fight within the party in Chhattisgarh. They made the same formula there too that one would be the chief minister for 2.5 years and the other would be the chief minister for the next 2.5 years. They somehow resolved the matter and kept it going. It is also true that after 2.5 years, they backtracked. They betrayed their own party. They have a tendency to betray their own party. That is one thing. It is proven that the Congress thinks of such a formula,” he said.

He added: “I just read somewhere in the media that they had a small meeting. I read in the media that it was asked that when Modi is repeatedly asking to whom should we hand over such a big country, a name should be there, when it comes to such a big country? You will have to give a name, give anybody’s name. Even for a cricket team, you have to have a captain, even for a kabaddi team, a name is given. You are not telling who will handle such a big country. That is when they have come up with a ‘one year, one PM’ formula. Every year, one new leader will take oath as the PM, make a new government and new cabinet. For five years, they will stay busy in the swearing-in events, while the country will be busy in difficult events.”

The PM asked if a country can be run like this, especially a country as big as India that has seen instability for 30 years in the “era of coalition governments”. He said the BJP has always respected and honoured regional aspirations despite winning with a clear mandate, which is a character developed by the National Democratic Alliance and put into practice by the saffron party.

“Today, the prestige of India has increased in the world because the 140 crore people of India have formed a stable, strong and majority government. So anyone can trust us, this government has the mandate. No one trusts a coalition government. Such a big country cannot function like this. But, today the politics of the country is such that no matter how big a majority a party wins with, it has to honour regional aspirations,” he said.

Modi further said the NDA government was formed with the help of its allies even though the BJP won with absolute majority. He said for the country’s bright future in politics and its people’s aspirations, regional aspirations must be respected and shared.

“And that is why even when we got an absolute majority, we still formed the NDA government, with the help of NDA allies. Because even after a party gets an absolute majority, for the bright future of the country’s politics and aspirations of the people of the country, regional aspirations should be given the same respect and share. This character has been developed by the NDA and the BJP has shown it can be put into practice,” he added.

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