Manmohan Singh coined the term Achche Din, says Gadkari

MUMBAI:Union transport minister Nitin Gadkari said that Achche Din, the pet slogan of the BJP during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, was first coined by the former

MUMBAI:Union transport minister Nitin Gadkari said that Achche Din, the pet slogan of the BJP during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, was first coined by the former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during the UPA rule, but now it has become the millstone around the BJP’s neck.

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While responding to a question at an event organised by the Daily Lokmat on Tuesday, Gadkari said that his party was saddled with the phrase Achche Din.

“Modiji told us during a private conversation that when Manmohan Singh was the PM, he used the phrase first, but now it is stuck to us so much that everyone asks us when will there be Achche Din. It is a bone stuck in our throat. Our country is an ocean of dissatisfied souls and in no situation will good times be realised. The person riding a bicycle dreams of owning a two-wheeler and the one on two-wheelers dreams of a four-wheeler. There is nothing wrong in big aspirations, but the wealthy are dissatisfied too,” he said.

Gadkari said Prime Minister Narendra Modi reiterated the phrase somewhere and since then, it got stuck to the party. “Still I believe that Achche Din means people have good expectations and it will get fulfilled in the future,”he said.

The Congress has slammed the BJP claiming that the ruling party was fooling people.

“The BJP is fooling people by backtracking on its promises made during the elections. Farmers and the common man are facing a tough time today, but the BJP is least bothered,” said Ashok Chavan, state unit chief of the Congress.

BJP had used Achche Din as a keyword in its campaign in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections in 2014. The phrase was a big hit among voters as the saffron party won an unexpected number of seats. The Opposition parties, since then, have been criticising BJP for not fulfilling promises.