Nationalism is a bad word only in India, says Arun Jaitley

Arun Jaitley also accused the Congress of spreading lies on the government's demonetisation drive

In the wake of the furore created over the All India Students Association (AISA) and the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) engaging into a scuffle over cancellation of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student Umar Khalid's talk at Delhi University's Ramjas College, Union Finance Minsiter Arun Jaitley on Thursday asserted that nationalism is a bad word only in India.

"Nationalism is considered a bad word only in India; otherwise, it is a good word," he said, while addressing a press conference in Varanasi.

The Finance minister also accused the Congress of spreading lies on the government's demonetisation drive and said that it did not have any impact on the economy's growth rate.

Jaitley hailed the Central Government's demonetisation move, saying it had won the confidence of many people.

Throwing light on the current GDP rate, the Finance Minister asserted that the opposition was spreading lies about demonetisation.

Commenting on the crucial Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, the senior BJP leader said, "Once the party attains victory in UP polls, then this will prove that people have accepted PM Modi's demonetisation drive."

Varanasi goes to polls in the last of the seven-phase assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh on March 8.

Counting of votes will take place on March 11.