Ramdas Athawale, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Minister of Maharashtra, gave a statement on Monday, while addressing the media in Maharashtra. The statement, which was about a promise made by Narendra Modi during his campaign for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, gathered a lot of attention.
During PM Modi’s campaign in 2014, he said he would bring back black money and deposit it in the accounts of the citizens of India. Mr. Modi further said, each citizen would have approximately Rs. 15 lakhs in their accounts within 100 days of the BJP coming into power. Referring to this promise by Mr. Modi, Mr. Athawale, the President of the Republic Party of India (RPI) and an ally of the National Democratic party (NDA,) said, “15 lakh rupees will come slowly, not all at once. The government does not have so much money. The RBI (Reserve Bank of India) was asked for money but they are not giving. So the amount cannot be collected. An assurance was given but there are some technical issues.”
Mr. Athawale’s statement caught the attention of many as it is considered to directly point toward the strategy of the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections of 2019. The BJP is likely to implement a plan called ‘Universal Basic Income’ (UBI) during the announcement of next year’s budget, ahead of the elections.
Speaking about the defeat of the BJP against the Congress party in three states, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, Mr. Athawale, said, “Congress has won elections in a few states. But we will defeat them in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Narendra Modi will again become Prime Minister.”
The BJP will contest against the Congress party in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections to come to power for a second consecutive term.
