New Delhi: Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri today predicted a collapse of the Opposition bloc INDIA, pointing to parties with disparate ideologies that have been sworn enemies in states for decades. Speaking to NDTV in an exclusive interview, Mr Puri, who handles the Petroleum and housing ministries, said the new front will "collapse under the weight of its own contradictions".
"The Aam Aadmi Party is a new arrival, a political start-up. They were born of an agitation against entrenched corruption. Today they want to tie up with someone who defined the entrenched corruption," he told NDTV, without naming the Congress.
Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress, he said, would be in a similar quandary.
"The Trinamool will be unlikely to be happy with an alliance with the Congress or CPM in West Bengal. The Congress and the AAP are not likely to be happy with the alliance in Delhi or Punjab... And I can go on giving these examples," he added.
The BJP has been criticizing the new Opposition front since it was announced last month, accusing it of being old wine in new bottle. Several leaders have also predicted its collapse, pointing to its inner contradictions. The Opposition claims it is a mark of the ruling party's nervousness.
Talking of the BJP's own big pitch, Mr Puri said when the Prime Minister exudes confidence and comes up with a roadmap for 2030 and 2047, it is based on "empirical verifiable data".
India, Mr Puri said, will be a developed country even before 2047 and this is clear from the GDP data that indicates progress in some core areas. This development, he said, has percolated among the most vulnerable sections of the population.
The 6.5 per cent growth the country is registering is "pretty impressive" and it compares well to other nations which are far bigger in size.
In his Independence Day speech, PM Modi had laid out the blueprint of India's growth trajectory over the next 25 years, saying it would be the third largest in the world by 2047. His third term in power, he said, would be based on "unprecedented development".
"In the Amrit Kaal, in 2047, when the country will celebrate 100 years of independence, then the tricolour should be that of a developed India... We don't have to stop, we don't have to back down and for this, suchita (probity), pardarshita (transparency), nishpakshta (impartiality) are needed," he said.