Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday said she is confident about the BJP’s performance in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Though she does not think she will be contesting the all-important polls, the finance minister said her party will decide on the matter.
In an exclusive interview to Network18 Group editor-in-chief Rahul Joshi, Sitharaman said she doesn’t want to speculate on the number of seats the BJP will get in the elections. But, she said, the people will see how Prime Minister Narendra Modi puts them and the nation first before all else.
“I’m not sure. I’ll not speculate on the number of seats but I think people will see the truth, commitment and dedication with which the (honourable) prime minister has been working. They are blessing him, seeing his earnestness. They are seeing how he puts the people of India and the nation first before everything else. So I am confident,” she said, when asked if the saffron party will return to power with a bigger mandate than last time.
The minister has recently come across as an aggressive politician, showcasing a different side of her public persona. In the last few weeks, she has turned the heat on for her rivals in Tamil Nadu and called MK Stalin’s DMK an “anti-Hindu party”.
She, however, said she means what she says and that the “attack on Hindus” has been felt for a long time in her home state. “I speak about Tamil Nadu with lived experience and, therefore, I don’t talk too soon nor do I speak too indiscreetly. So, when I say something, I mean it because I feel it. Also, I corroborate it with data, with actual ground activity and only then do I comment,” she added.
On whether the BJP will be able to perform better in the southern states this time, Sitharaman said it is difficult to talk in numbers but the BJP has certainly worked for the people and hope to have their blessings.
“Whether it’s Kerala, Tamil Nadu, lots of work is happening and people are responding as well,” she said.
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