New Delhi: Union Minister Piyush Goyal hit out at a "despondent (and) frustrated" opposition amid criticism that the third term of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a "government of U-turns". Mr Goyal declared to NDTV "there is absolutely no U-turn... except responsiveness to the people of India".
"I think the opposition is so despondent... so frustrated... that they are criticising us in foreign countries (referring to Congress MP Rahul Gandhi's comments during events in the United States this month), never mind in India. And I think there can be nothing more shameful," he said.
"We have had no U-turns..." he stressed, "This is a listening government. Prime Minister Modi is respected and loved by the people because he has his ears to the ground and responds positively."
The Union Minister also dismissed any talk that the Modi 3.0 government is hamstrung by not having a brute majority in parliament. The Bharatiya Janata Party and Mr Modi returned to power after the April-June election but only because of the 53 seats won by its National Democratic Alliance partners.
The BJP itself won only 240 seats - 32 below the majority mark. In each of the BJP's first two terms, the party scored well over that mark, meaning it did not need allies to keep the government running.
But there is "no difference" between Modi 3.0 and its two predecessors, Mr Goyal stressed, pointing out the Prime Minister had NDA members in his cabinet in his first two terms, when he did not need to.
Mr Goyal's pushback also followed fierce criticism from the Congress last month over the contentious Unified Pension Scheme, or UPS, which will be implemented from April 1 next year.
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Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge had said the 'u' in the scheme's name stood for 'U-turn', and pointed to the "rollback" of other laws, including financial provisions for long-term capital gains tax and another for lateral entry (i.e., from outside service cadres) into the civil services' higher ranks.
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The pushback also follows criticism from Rahul Gandhi at public events in the United States this month. Mr Gandhi made several critical remarks about the government - from reservations for marginalised communities and freedom of religion to the handling of the India-China border row.
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In particular, his remark about seeing the political battle with the BJP as an ideological divide over questions like "is a Sikh allowed to wear a turban (or) kada" triggered a fierce response.
In a lengthy attack Union Minister Hardeep Puri accused Mr Gandhi of spreading a "dangerous narrative" and for criticising the government while abroad and holding the Leader of the Opposition post.