Don't repeat the mistake you made in 2018 polls: Piyush Goyal to K'taka

Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal urged the people of Karnataka not to repeat the mistake of 2018 polls, and to provide an absolute majority to the BJP in the May 10 elections

Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal on Friday urged the people of Karnataka not to "repeat the mistake of 2018 polls", and to provide an absolute majority to the BJP in the May 10 Assembly elections.

During an Interaction with the Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FKCCI), he asked the people to elect a strong and single-party government, which would be committed to the welfare of the people of Karnataka and provide good governance.

The 2018 Assembly polls had thrown up a hung verdict, following which the Congress and JD(S) joined together to form a coalition government initially. However, the BJP later got MLAs from the rival parties to defect, and emerged as the single largest party.

"We (BJP) commit ourselves to providing a double-engine government in Karnataka, a government that will work hand-in-hand with the central government," Goyal said.

Addressing the gathering, he said, "We would like to see Karnataka get an absolute majority government of BJP. Don't make the mistake you made last time, don't leave us somewhere in between, so that others can cheat the mandate of the people of Karnataka.

"A good strong single-party government with an absolute majority, under the guidance and leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, will transform Karnataka, reform the process, bring technology into governance and truly speed up the development of Karnataka as a trillion dollar economy," he added.

The Union Minister also spoke about making Karnataka "the engine of India's growth, so that India can become the engine of world's growth."

He also listed out various initiatives and programmes of the Modi-led government at the centre, which he claimed had put India on the global map in terms of economic growth, which was also inclusive.

The Modi government in the last nine years had created a strong macroeconomic fundamental foundation on which the country can grow for decades in the future, he claimed.

"Today we have amongst the lowest inflation in the world, our currency relative to most currencies strengthened. Most other currencies have depreciated far more steeply to the US dollar. We have had our fair share of depreciation, but still moderate...India which traditionally had double-digit inflation has seen the lowest inflation in nine years of the Modi government- between 4.5 to 5 per cent," he said.

Despite global crises such as the Russia-Ukraine war, India's inflation was still in the 6-6.5 per cent band, the Minister said, adding that the RBI Governor yesterday "complementing the collective efforts of the Government of India and regulators", has decided to maintain the policy rates and not increase them, while most other developed nations were increasing their interest rates.

"It is a big thumbs up for the Indian economy and a good signal for Indian industry," he said.

In a year in which global growth had been "very timid", India grew from USD 676 billion to USD 765 billion in terms of exports, Goyal said, adding that India's foreign exchange reserves were also robust.