HTLS 2021: Shivraj Chouhan jabs Congress, tackles question on 'changing culture' of BJP
HTLS 2021: When asked if relationship between the ruling dispensation and opposition parties has been frosty, Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said all the leaders have equally good ties.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has seen an amazing journey, Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said on Friday, while speaking on Hindustan Times Leadership Summit (HTLS). He dismissed the assertions about “changing culture” within the BJP, and said the party has achieved a lot under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“The party propagated an alternate ideology based on the ethos and culture of the country. It grew first as Jana Sangh under Shyama Prasad Mookerjee, and then as BJP under the leadership of Atal Bihari Vajpayee and LK Advani. It reached a new high under their leadership and even led a government at the Centre,” Chouhan told Hindustan Times’ national political editor Sunetra Choudhury.
Some of the high points listed by Chouhan were golden quadrilateral project to build a network of national highways and the Pokhran nuclear test.
“Today, I am proud to say that the stature our Prime Minister Narendra Modi has achieved, not just at home but on a global stage, shows that he is a man of ideas. I have been to other countries before, but the respect that our country gets today, is unprecedented. It is not a respect just for PM Modi, but the people of the country,” he added.
When asked if relationship between the ruling dispensation and opposition parties has been frosty, Chouhan said all the leaders have equally good ties. “But if someone decides to disrupt Parliament, what can the ruling party do? PM Modi has called for dialogue many times, but if you think your stature has diminished due to poll defeats, and you won’t let Parliament function, we can’t do anything,” said Chouhan, taking a dig at the Congress party.
The chief minister also said that he doesn’t take Rahul Gandhi seriously. “He has never seen villages, farms. The kind of statements he makes, the country's citizens or farmers do not trust him. Else the Congress would not have been in such an unfortunate situation across the nation,” said Chouhan.
The winter session of Parliament has been stormy, with opposition parties raising slogans and protesting over the withdrawal of farm laws and other issues. They accuse the government of not holding dialogue with other parties before bring in new legislations and withdrawing them.
