Smriti Irani said that BJP has always been raising hardcore issues. (File)
Setting the tone for next year's Lok Sabha elections with the BJP seemingly on a strong footing after routing the Opposition in the key heartland states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, Union Minister Smriti Irani said Prime Minister Modi was neither pursuing nor advancing a personal agenda.
In an exclusive interview with ANI, the Lok Sabha MP from Amethi said the BJP-led Centre has done enough work that could be showcased to the people going into the next general elections.
She said PM Modi never got votes for 'maintaining the status quo' and he does not need the validation of 'cosy clubs in Lutyens', as he has the support of crores of Indians who elected him to office.
In the interview aired on Thursday, Smriti Irani also opened up on the party's plans for 2024.
"PM Modi never got the vote for maintaining the status quo. He has been the CM and is now the PM. He has seen BJP and the Lutyens from a BJP and non-BJP presume, as a political activist, as (a member of the) organisation, and a minister. Before that, he had been the preacher. He had gone to every part of this country. He knows better. He does not need the validation of cosy clubs in Lutyens because he has the support of crores of Indians who elected him to office. I think a lot of politics before 2014 was about 'who do you know in the power corridors?'. Who could create a good PR about you as a politician? That's why my entire one-and-a-half decade in BJP politics is never heard of," she said.
"16 per cent of global economic growth can be attributed to our country. When was the last time the IMF said this about India? Forget if you have any political implications, doesn't it make you proud? What's the Congress position on PM Modi? PM is saying Make in India, Congress saying NO! He has set the gold of Viksit Bharat by 2047. He asked everyone to come together," she added.
She asserted that the PM Modi wasn't fighting to forward a personal agenda, as the BJP has always been raising hardcore issues.
"The PM is not fighting on a personal agenda. My leadership is not talking about the personal lives of the Gandhi family. We are talking about the hard-core issues. We have worked that we can showcase. We have the Jal Jeevan mission in which 13 crore families getting water for the first time. 13 and a half crore people have been pulled out of poverty. We have 10 crore families who received Ayushman Bharat support. We have over 3 and a half crore people who are digitally literate from the rural parts of our country. We have as the Government delivered 100 crores of Vaccines. We become the voice of the Global South. We have had the presidency of G-20 and we delivered masterfully on it," Smriti Irani said.
"We have, as a country, much to showcase on our foreign policy to Manufacturing policy", she said, adding, "The IMF report which I have mentioned, PM Modi has not generated it. It is an international agency which now says that India has done so well on Monetary policy, fiscal policy that now India is adding 16 per cent to global growth".
Coming down heavily on the Gandhi family, the Union minister said "In the age of social media, everything is evolving except them."
"At one time the country also saw that whatever was said by the Gandhi family would be published. Today, in the age of social media, everything is evolving except them. They think that what they have said is set in stone," Smriti Irani said.
On INDIA partners TMC and the AAP naming Mallikarjun Kharge as the bloc's PM face, Samrit Irani said, "The name (of the prospective PM candidate) hasn't come from Mrs Gandhi. It came from parties that are not Congress members."
"I cannot say anything till an official announcement is made. But what is interesting for you is that the name hasn't come from Mrs Gandhi. It came from parties that are not Congress members. The difference is right now you have 2 people who are in the race already Rahul and his sister. What is interesting for me is if we say that we are breaking away from the tradition of dynasty, you haven't got that declaration from Sonia Gandhi. In contrast, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury accepted that it is impossible to defeat Prime Minister Modi. So with certain defeat before them is that's why there is a discussion on Kharge's name and Kharge ji the restitute politician that he is said that we will look into it after winning polls," the Union minister said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)