'Collation of corrupts': Piyush Goyal's jibe at Oppn unity in Rajasthan

Union Minister Piyush Goyal on Sunday slammed the opposition parties, calling their unity as a "collation of corrupts". He said that their (opposition parties) unity cannot affect a single vote of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

In an exclusive interview with ANI, the union minister said that the leaders of the opposition parties cannot influence a single vote outside their respective states.

"The opposition unity cannot make any difference for the BJP. For example- DMK's Stalin cannot influence a single vote outside Tamil Nadu; Mamata Banerjee cannot affect a single vote outside West Bengal, and leaders like Lalu Prasad Yadav and Nitish Kumar can harm their own parties. Nobody likes 'Bewafa (betrayer) parties' like Nitish Kumar's JD (U) and Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena (UBT)," Goyal said.

In Bihar, a joint meeting of 15 opposition parties to chalk out a strategy to counter the BJP for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections was held in Bihar's Patna on June 23 and was convened by the chief minister and JD (U)'s de facto leader Nitish Kumar at his official residence.

Piyush Goyal is in Rajasthan for the ongoing 'Maha Jansampark Abhiyana' of the BJP ahead of the upcoming assembly elections. He said that the people of the state have decided to bring the party back to the state.

"Although there is time for the Rajasthan assembly elections, people have made up their minds to form a BJP government there. People are angry because of corruption in Ashok Gehlot-led government in Rajasthan. Today, people see that there is a stable and strong government in the Centre and they want the same in the state too," the union minister said.

Goyal further said that the investors are not ready to invest due to a lack of progressive policies in the state.

"Ashok Gehlot is running the state as per his old-school methods. For textile parks, no investor was ready to come citing a lack of progressive policies. We (the central government) somehow made them agree to invest. Now, see the state like Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat, how they are developing and this is why people of Rajasthan want to bring BJP to power," he said.

Earlier on Saturday, the minister claimed that the Congress party would not be able to cross the mark of even 21 seats in the upcoming assembly elections in Rajasthan.

While addressing a press conference here on Saturday, Goyal mentioned a number of reasons why the Congress will lose in the upcoming assembly polls.

"The central government tried to reduce the price of oil by reducing the excise duty on petrol and diesel, but the Rajasthan government betrayed the people here by not reducing VAT on petrol and diesel even by a single rupee. The country's most expensive petrol and diesel is available in Rajasthan," Goyal said while addressing a press conference.

He accused Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot's government of indulging in corruption. Goyal said that the central government sends money to Rajasthan but it doesn't reach the people because of corruption that takes place there.

"Tenders worth Rs 20,000 crore were given which resulted in a scam. Tenders were given to two companies. There are three ministers in the government from Bharatpur and the people here are involved in corruption. Cash worth more than 2 crores and one kg of gold was seized from the government office," Goyal alleged.