Modi takes a jibe at PM as Congress chief ministers, Montek listen

'The PM said better days were ahead...maybe we would have to wait for 4-6 months'

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday mocked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s assurance on Wednesday that India was re-emerging as an attractive investment destination and growth would revive in the coming months.

He did so at the same venue, the 12th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas here. And, in the presence of three Congress party chief ministers — Haryana’s Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Kerala’s Oommen Chandy and Meghalaya’s Mukul Sangma. The session was being moderated by the deputy chairman of the Planning Commission, Montek Singh Ahluwalia. Except for Sangma to some extent later, none defended the PM.

“The PM said there was no need to get disappointed as better days were ahead. I don’t have to say anything more. Maybe we would have to wait for four-six months (when the Lok Sabha elections are due). Good days are surely coming,” Modi said. His comment was applauded by the audience.

“Better days would come because a strong foundation has been laid by the leadership,” Sangma said later, in a reference to Modi’s speech.

Responding to a question on how he proposed to tackle corruption, Modi said the discussion in the county was on whether to tackle bribe takers or givers. Instead, he suggested, systems should be created to ensure corruption did not happen. “There is a lot of post-corruption discussion... somebody talks of Lok Pal or Jan Lok Pal. We should change the focus and take steps so that corruption does not take place,” he said. For this, he said, the state needs to be policy-driven and without discriminating.

With elections in sight, Modi said non-resident Indians should not only be weighed in terms of their ‘dollar and pounds’. “They have experience of a different work culture, discipline, knowledge and wide exposure. We should think on how we can utilise their experience.”

The Gujarat CM said foreign governments had over the recent years shifted focus from the central governments to state governments, after realising executive power lay with the latter.

“For a federal structure like India, this is a fortunate development... In the last 12-15 years, an environment has been created of healthy competition within state governments... The higher the competition, the faster the country will develop,” he said.