Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s statement on the political divide of North and South has triggered a war of words between the BJP and the Congress. Union Minister Smriti Irani in an exclusive chat with The Sunday Guardian said that Rahul Gandhi is doing politics of hate and only he and his family are to be blamed for the dwindling fortune of the Congress.

Q: Rahul Gandhi has given a speech in which he said that the politics of North India is superficial and the politics of Kerala and South India is very deep; what do you think about his statement?

A: I think the public will never support Rahul Gandhi’s politics of putting divide among states. He introduced the politics of divisiveness and spewing poison against the states. When he went to Assam, he stunned everyone with the kind of insults he heaped on Gujarat and Gujaratis and on Tuesday everyone knows what happened to Congress in Gujarat which was trounced badly. In coming times, if Rahul Gandhi has a misconception that, if he will continue to humiliate the people in this way, then the base of the Congress will increase. Then I should say, which I may have said earlier before, that leaders of Congress are left in the Lok Sabha now, will shrink further in 2024. And if anyone gets credit for this, then only and only will go to Rahul Gandhi.

Q: On one hand, Rahul Gandhi says that the north Indians do not understand politics, do not understand the in-depth, superficial, in the same way Priyanka Gandhi; on the other hand, is touring the state, attending the mahapanchayat, what do you think of that?

A: Priyanka Vadra is trying to sail the boat, Rahul Gandhi is trying to sink the boat, this is his family matter. However, it is also true that even after this statement will be made for 24 hours, but insult to North India, even after trying to put foot in India. Not a single Congress leader denied this. And what did the leaders of Congress have towards Rahul Gandhi, you saw in Puducherry in this public meeting, he misinterpreted the former Chief Minister, which also shows towards a woman that the Congress and Rahul Gandhi do not give due importance to intelligence.

Q: Again and again, he is giving a statement about Giriraj Singh’s ministry of fisheries; today again he said that when he comes to power, he will make it a department. What is your opinion on this statement?

A: The first thing is that they will never be able to come in majority, because liars like him won’t get it. The second thing is that in Parliament he asked a question in Parliament related to the Ministry of Fisheries. So, either Rahul Gandhi was not present in the House and that question was asked by his proxy and if you look at the Constitution, it’s a crime to do this and secondly, when he knows that there is a ministry as Giriraj Singh has told him a couple of days back on this issue. So, Rahul Gandhi is either making fun of people of Kerala or he is repeating his lie. 

Q: You are an MP from Amethi and Rahul Gandhi was an MP from Amethi. Do you think he should apologise for his statement?

A: I have always said that Amethi is like my family and if anyone repeatedly insults my family and then apologises, I don’t think that would be enough. I don’t think Rahul Gandhi has that humility that he would apologise.

The government on Wednesday announced that people above the age of 60 and those over 45 with co-morbidities will be able to receive Covid-19 vaccines from 1 March.

Speaking at a media briefing, Union minister Prakash Javadekar said that the vaccinations will be given free of cost at around 10,000 government centres spread across the country.

Vaccines will also be provided at 20,000 private centres, but there, people will have to pay to get inoculated, he added. This comes as the Bengal government has made it mandatory for passengers travelling in flights from Maharashtra, Kerala and two other states to produce a negative Covid-19 report.

In the meantime, India reported 13,742 new Covid-19 cases and 104 deaths in the last 24 hours, according to data released by the Union Health Ministry. With this, the country’s total caseload has risen to 1,10,30,176, while the death toll has surged to 1,56,567. The total number of active cases is now at 1,46,907, while the number of people who have recuperated from the disease is now over 1,07,26,702, the Ministry said.

Mumbai on Wednesday recorded 1,167 new Covid-19 cases, the highest daily spike in about four months, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said. The tally of cases in the country’s financial capital thus rose to 3,21,698, while the death toll reached 11,453 with four new fatalities. 

Kerala has recorded 4,106 new cases with the tally now touching 10.45 lakhs. The active number of cases in the state currently sits at 52,689.

Gujarat, on the other hand, reported 380 new cases taking the total to 2.68 lakhs.

In Goa, as many as 52 persons tested positive for coronavirus, while 35 were discharged from hospitals after recovering from the infection on Wednesday, an official from the health department said. With the addition of the latest cases, the state’s Covid-19 tally has reached 54,700, of which 53,416 patients have recovered so far, the official said.

Andhra Pradesh reported 94 new cases and 66 recoveries in the last 24 hours. There were no deaths reported in this period. This has taken the total number of cases to 8,89,503 with the total recoveries at 8,81,732. The total death toll stands at 7,168 in the state while active cases are at 603.

The government has “no business” to be in business, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Wednesday in a clear push for disinvestment and privatisation of public sector undertakings (PSUs). The PM made the remarks during a webinar on privatisation by the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM).

“It is the government’s duty to support enterprises and businesses. But it is not essential that it should own and run enterprises,” the Prime Minister said, adding: “There was a different time when public sector enterprises were established and the needs were also different.”

PM Modi said that work is going on in full swing on modern infrastructure and multi-modal connectivity for Aatmnirbhar Bharat. He said the government is working on Rs 111 trillion National Infrastructure Pipeline and there is a scope for the private sector to invest around Rs 25 trillion in this project. He emphasised that there should be transparency in “monetise and modernise” process and it should follow rules.

“The government is going ahead with the mantra of ‘monetise and modernise’. When government monetises, that space is filled by the private sector of the country. The private sector brings investment and best global practices with them. This modernises other things and brings modernisation to the entire sector, the rapid expansion of the sector and the creation of new employment opportunities. It is important to monitor this to ensure that there is transparency in this process and rules are followed,” he said.

Noting that the government has many underutilised or unutilised assets, PM Modi said that this is the reason why the Centre announced the National Asset Monetisation Pipeline. “The government has many underutilised or unutilised assets. This is the reason why the Centre announced the National Asset Monetisation Pipeline. We have set a target to monetise around 100 assets including oil, gas, ports, airports and power. It is estimated to get a Rs 2.5 trillion investment. This process will continue,” he said.

“The money comes from assets monetisation and privatisation is being used to build houses for the poor, making roads in villages, opening new schools, providing clean water etc. Every decision related to asset monetisation and privatisation will help in empowering citizens whether they belong to the middle class or poor or farmer or labourers,” he added.

PM Modi said that the Union Budget provides a clear roadmap to take India on a high growth trajectory. “This budget has shown a clear roadmap to take India on a high growth trajectory. The budget also focuses on a strong partnership with the private sector. This budget has showed scope and target of the public-private sector partnership with clarity. Disinvestment and asset monetisation is an important aspect of it,” he said.

“When public sector enterprises were started in the country, there was a different time and the country’s needs were also different. The policy which was right for 50-60 years ago, there is a possibility to amend it,” he added.

PM Modi said many public sector enterprises are loss-making and are supported by taxpayers’ money. “Today when we are doing reforms, our target is to use public money wisely. Many public sector enterprises are loss-making. Many of them are being supported with taxpayer’s money. It is also an additional burden on the economy. These public sector enterprises should not be continued just because they are being run for several years,” he said.

“It is the responsibility of the government to support enterprise and business but it is not necessary or possible for the government to run or to own enterprise today. The government has no business to be in business. The government’s focus should on people’s welfare and development schemes,” he added.

With agency inputs