4 boys have joined hands in Guj but won't achieve much: Prasad

Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad today took a dig at Rahul Gandhi, saying three "boys" from Gujarat have joined hands with him for the state polls but they won't be able to achieve much as the BJP will easily retain power.
Speaking at a newspaper event here, the law minister also said that "two boys" had come together for Uttar Pradesh polls this year-- Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav of Samajwadi Party had entered into an alliance, but had lost the elections.
"In Gujarat, four boys (apparently referring to Rahul Gandhi, Hardik Patel, Jignesh Mewani, Alpesh Thakore) have come together" he said. "One has gone from Delhi. The Rest of are from Gujarat."

"In a democracy, political parties have right to join hands with any party (Loktantra mein har ko har ki sawaari karne kaa adhikaar hai," he said.
"But, the work which has been done in Gujarat (by the BJP), and the mood of the people, you will see the results," he said.
Prasad, who also holds the Information Technology portfolio, said, "The youth, innovations and enterprise will make India a force to reckon with in the world...Desh badal raha hai (the country is transforming)."

Replying to questions on digital progress of the country, the IT minister said, "At times, the farmers had crop, but they could not sell it. We have built digital platforms for farmers called e-nam, and nearly 450 mandis in the country have been linked with it. The farmer can sell his produce in any of these mandi just by a click of mouse. Then there is Fasal Bima Yojana."

The minister added, "We have opened Jan Dhan accounts of 30 crore people, and have linked it with Aadhaar and mobile phone...We have saved Rs 57,000 crore which were gobbled up by intermediaries earlier."
On issue of corruption, he said, "Former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi (of Congress) used to say that he sends Re 1 from Delhi, but in Lucknow village only 15 paise reach. But under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, we send Rs 1,000 from Delhi and that Rs 1,000 reaches the bank account of poor," he claimed.
"This is called digital India...Today a person can avail e-hospital booking facility for AIIMS from a UP village.