Will PM sit in Oppn if BJP gets less than 272 seats in LS poll, asks Ahmed Patel

Senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel Wednesday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for saying that coalition governments had stalled country's progress and asked if he would sit in the Opposition if the BJP got less than 272 seats in the upcoming elections.

He also asked why the BJP does not exit from the governments of Maharashtra, Bihar and Goa if the prime minister felt that coalition governments do not function properly.

"By saying that he can't function in a coalition government has the Prime Minister confirmed that if the BJP gets less than 272 seats it will sit in Opposition and not try to form a government," Patel said on Twitter.

"If the Prime Minister thinks that coalition governments do not function properly why doesn't the BJP exit from the state governments of Maharashtra, Bihar and Goa. Looks like they have learnt a lesson after trying to steal the people's mandate in Goa, Bihar, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Karnataka," he said.

Patel alleged that in the last 15 years, the country registered the "worst" economic growth under the BJP's absolute majority rule.

While laying the foundation stone for extension of Surat airport terminal building, Prime Minister Modi Wednesday stressed the need for a full-majority government at the Centre, saying "hung parliaments" stalled the country's progress in the last three decades.

He also defended the government's demonetisation move, saying it brought down prices of houses and made them affordable for the young generation by checking black money in the real estate sector.

"As you all know, India witnessed instability for 30 years due to hung parliaments, as no party received a majority. This had stalled the country's development. And the country even regressed on some parameters due to that situation," Modi said.

"We are progressing today because the people applied their wisdom in casting votes (in 2014 elections). Their votes eradicated that 30-year-old illness called hung parliament and helped form a full majority government at the Centre," the prime minister said.

"You can ask me what I have done and I can give you answers because you voted for us unanimously. We have done what we have done because of the mandate we got. If we were a coalition government, then we could have given many reasons for not functioning properly," he said.