We cherish our old friends, and our doors always open for parties: PM Modi on BJP’s alliance in Tamil Nadu

Video grab from live broadcast.

Today prime minister Narendra Modi addressed Bhartiya Janta Party workers in by video conferencing. In the Program called ‘Meera Booth Sabze majbooth‘, PM Modi interacted with party Karyakartas of different constituencies and addressed their questions.

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PM Modi addressed workers from Arahkonam, Krishnagiri, Cuddalore and Dharmapuri constituencies. He extended his wishes for Pongal to workers and asked them to dispense information related to good governance of Central Government among the people of Tamil Nadu.

A worker from Arahkolam constituency asked PM Modi about the rumour going around that whether BJP will ally with AIADMK, DMK or Rajnikanth’s party. Addressing the question, PM Modi recalled former Prime Minister Atal Bihar Vajpayee’s words and asserted that BJP always welcomes its old friends, even though we have a clear-cut majority.

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“Even when BJP won the majority on its own, we preferred to run the government with our allies. We cherish old friends, and our doors are always open for parties. It is more important to deal with an alliance with people than parties.” PM Modi answered the question. He also added that strong NDA is an article of faith and not a compulsion.

Another worker asked PM Modi how his government is managing to work free from corruption, while our Former PM Rajiv Gandhi, in his popular statement had said that for every rupee sent from Central Govemnrmt, only 15 paise reach the people.

PM Modi while answering the question said that in the previous Congress-led governments, the corruption was institutionalised. Benefits meant for the poor were transferred to middlemen, which created a great divide between poor and rich. He talked about his government’s emphasize on Direct Benefit Transfer scheme, which transfers money to recipients of welfare schemes directly, eliminating any need for a middleman in between.

PM Modi also slammed the Congress party for its compromise with the national security of India. He alleged UPA of making defence sector a den of middleman and brokers. He also mentioned the investigation going on in the AgustaWestland scam, in which more truth was unearthed after the extradition of middleman Christian Michel to India. PM Modi said that citizens of the country should know that why the deal of Rafale was delayed by 10 years. He hinted that Michel was privy of the official documents related to deal, including its status.

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We have reported earlier that, Christian Michel with another middleman Guido Haschke had worked on a plan to lobby for Eurofighter against Rafale in order to win the deal in its favour.  A “strategy paper” which was seized during the raids had revealed that Christian Michel and Guido Haschke had planned to make Eurofighter secure the deal against the French Rafale in the MMRCA bid.

PM Modi said that Michel shared a bonhomie with ‘First Family’ of Congress party. He said that middleman of the country, who has been completely sidelined by his government, is trying hard to malign his and government’s image. He said that they are openly opposing his efforts, even using legal means. He said that, so far 90 thousand crores have been saved by implementation of Direct Benefit Transfer. PM Modi also said that some elements want to peddle a narrative that his government has failed people of Tamil Nadu. However, he stated that facts speak otherwise.

He mentioned that on 29th of this month, he will be interacting with children, parents and teachers in Townhall, and discuss the upcoming board exams of children.

OpIndia Staff: Staff reporter at OpIndia