‘Country has moved from vote bank politics to report card politics’: JP Nadda

JP Nadda lashed out at the Congress for questioning the country's achievements and milestones and said Rahul Gandhi is running a “nafrat ka mega shopping mall”.

Bharatiya Janata Party president JP Nadda has said there has been a sea change in the governance model since the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance government came to power at the Centre in 2014 and the country has “moved from vote bank politics to report card politics”.

He also lashed out at the opposition parties, particularly the Congress, for questioning the country's achievements and milestones and said the party and its leader Rahul Gandhi are running a “nafrat ka mega shopping mall” (a mall for hatred).

“The PM (Narendra Modi) has given a new disha (direction) and the dasha (state of affairs) of the country has also changed,” Nadda said speaking at the launch of a book Amritkaal Ki Aur edited by Shiwanand Dwivedi and KK Upadhyay on Monday.

"It is one thing to rule, but to do so with dedication and with clarity about the basics of governance is another...PM se pradhan sevak is not just a statement, but exemplifies the ideology and deep philosophy," he said, adding that the government had not only illustrated how to rule but “how to change lives and destiny”.

Taking potshots at the opponents of the BJP, the party president said there is a vast, visible difference in how the country was governed from 2004-2014 and how it has emerged as the fifth largest economy, led by a government that exemplifies strong leadership and tough decision making.

"(Before 2014 ) it was taken for granted that nothing will change and there will be corruption... we were counted among corrupt nations. Every day, there was a scam... and there was no idea who the leader was. There was no clarity on leader, leadership and neeti and neeyat (policy and intent)," he said.

The political culture in the country, he said, has changed with people having moved from dynastic politics to meritocracy.

"We paid attention to vikas aur virasat (development and heritage)...There was north-south division, a language divide, but PM Modi has addressed that as well from Thiruvalluvar to Basava he has made mention of these icons ... the Sengol, installed in Parliament is an example of unity," he said.

Taking a dig at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi who during his recent visit to the USA criticised the union government for a host of reasons, including fostering communal polarisation, the BJP president said it appears that the Gandhi scion has problems accepting the milestones that India achieves.

"Congress ke anpadh bhai (uneducated brothers) should look around; the growth rate of the country on whose soil you were giving lectures is 1.4 %. And in India it is 6.1%," he said.

Citing UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who said the time is not far when India will be the third largest economy, Nadda said while the world considers India as a bright spot, Gandhi seems to have a problem. "You claim you run a mohabbat ki dukkan but you run a nafrat ka mega shopping mall ... people can see through this that while opposing Modi, you end up opposing India," Nadda said.