Dr. Hardeep Singh Puri Discusses ‘Ab Ki Baar - 400 Paar’ Ahead Of Lok Sabha Polls At TN Summit

Round of Applause thank you so much sir and um Nava it's over to you now thank you Magna thank you STI and thank you very much uh Minister Puri for joining us here at the times now Summit the theme of our Summit is India Unstoppable what do you think makes India Unstoppable if any one section of our society or any part of the ecosystem sought to claim credit for the Unstoppable India I would find fault for that but I think starting with decisive focused leadership in the last 10 years programs which are anchored in development ensuring that the benefits of development percolate down to the farthest or those most vulnerable sections of our society and unleashing the inherent potential of India the brand which uh your previous uh star performer was um outlining I think India collectively today is viewed not in terms of the 8.6% % growth in the last quarter or the fact that you sent a vehicle on the South Pole of the moon or that you are preparing for other great achievements I think India is defined by the collective ethos the new spirit which has been Unleashed for some time now I want to give credit but accelerated during the last 10 years that is what India Unstoppable is all about and I think um not to try and um lat on in at the start of a conversation I think uh a lot of people distinguished members of the fourth estate who have captured that story and who are focusing on that that in and of itself is also a you know a force multiplier because large parts of India large parts of India the progress and tier two tier three cities you have to go there to you have to see it to believe it and I can see the growth coming from there and I think that story is being captured and the India Unstoppable today is essentially good governance has been translated into good politics whereas on the other side you have u a counter narative you want to do a cast census you want to go back to defining identity politics look all all that will remain because you had 190 years of colonial domination you also have a past baggage which you have to overcome but I think you're on the right track I heard a famous um well famous in the sense that he holds a position in an American universities say that all this 2047 talk of a vixit Barat is a lot of hype the same guy who said we' only grow at 5% now I don't want to take issues with IND idual assessment because they're not worthy of you know being raised in a serious discussion but you have to believe in India and I agreed what um uh my friend soale said earlier you know that confidence which The Honorable prime minister has asserted for him his leadership for his people and his belief in India and it cuts across all sections I mean whether you're talking about the sporting Arena you're talking about the Unicorn you're talking about I believe you're no longer interested in the energy security issue no no but I I'll tell you we we used to we used to look down on psus we used to look down on psus oh these are government outfits they work like 9 to5 look at the performance of my psus I mean mine in the sense the two Ministries I'm associated with they have given a run to the private sector and my God somebody asked me the other dayk H man I I took an opportunity of a um platform like this I said Market 43% and all the psus omcs organized um oil marketing companies they've registered performances in multiples of 43% 120% 160% so there must be something going right and my submission to you is yes it's that new sense of purpose that new sense of determination where we Define our progress in terms of targets all right it's quite possible that some of those targets are unrealistic but isn't it better for someone to be pushing you to achieve those targets rather than not have targets at all okay so your target of uh 400 up bar is that also unachievable look that Charo AAR Charo par is a both a description of the state of being in the state in the state of the opposition it's also a BJP NDA sentiment but I would you know we have what 22 days away from the first polls and I think more than 60 days away from the last poll which is on 2nd June all I would say is let's not be um too conservative in our assessments I know you've had others on the show and say that we are not cists and we don't get into numbers well I've tried to make an assessment on numbers on two occasion 2014 2019 I was right earlier this time I'm watching something which is unbelievable you see a ground swell of support for the party in areas which were hither to regarded as being remote for us West Bengal the southern states how much of that ground swell of support translates into seats remains to be seen but you know if you get up every morning and you've got gifts thrown at you from the other side yeah yeah these are gifts which come our way I mean um electoral bonds was one of them then you had uh you call that a gift we suddenly discovered a party with 303 seats got 6,000 crores and a party with hardly any seats got, 1600 cres are look do you know of any system anywhere in the world I've served in the United States for many years I'm not naming any country any system where a democracy Works without political funding now how is are generated I would have thought that a party which is in power people naturally gravitate towards it what would you rather have you would have a system where tax question is not about them funding the you I'm so happy no you you're provoking me yeah well let's try it the other way around let me try and provoke you uh the the charges against you and your government are that what gravitates towards you is fine but what gravitates even more towards you is when you send your agencies to raate them you raate them and within two weeks within a month more bonds come to you I would be happy to get into an any uh exercise granular level with who did what and provided who in terms of dates okay you look at any history let's look at the period when these Bonds were introduced or now you look at the period going forward what do you see you see a genuine attempt having been made to drive this issue into a transparent semi-transparent semi-transparent well look ideal would be totally transparent all right now you'll have people coming in now as far as the agencies are concerned Why do you want to beat around the bush there's one man who says the a agencies have been un un Unleashed against me starting from November of 2023 he's been summoned by one Agency on nine occasions Mr krial you named him I won't disagree all I'm saying is he been summoned on nine occasions once I'm busy with this once I'm busy with that by if you have nothing to hide why don't you come and let's have a t chat now where does it say in our system that if you are either in power or you are in opposition and you are part of a culture of impunity that you are immune from uh uh from such investigation I mean look at what happened in West Bengal I mean there were empty Flats where there were sacks of currency literally littered around and why did those investigations take place not because the agencies wanted to investigate them those investigations took place because the courts ordered them there was some recruitment scandal in which some teacher who was a number two was overlooked for somebody who was at number 16 that person went to court and that's how it resulted now I make Cal's case has I am jumping from and I want to ask you a very serious question Germany and the United States have have raised worries concerns about the manner in which your government is going after which which statement are people holding constitutional positions which statement of the Germans are you referring to the first one or the second one one second one well the second one was after their Ambassador was summoned no no second one resp uh I think places the first one in perspective and then if you are having my friend ja Shanker here I suggest you ask him that because I can tell you no but no no I know I you've been a diplomat you you know when there is a concern expressed how serious it is no no hold on hold on you can express a concern on anything without knowing the full facts you have an independent and a robust Judiciary how come they are not convinced they're not asked being asked to convince should we start looking into um acts of omission and commission by other countries it's not my job as I said there is a designated Department of the government which will deal with that but can you have a situation if if we don't have a robust and independent Judiciary this favorite subject electoral bonds they just took a view on it and I said be my guest you've taken a view on electoral Bond but what is going to be the result of that all right you do away with electoral bonds you do it what will happen will the Electoral funding stop or will you go into a more or a less transparent system that is what I'm asking a lot of us are in this business of wanting to do good and in the process we are not sure whether our actions result in something positive or negative today the government is sitting pretty because I think lot of guys in the opposition and elsewhere again I'm choosing my words carefully are scoring self goals elsewhere self goals the courts the courts were not convinced with your argument uh of transparency or the semi-transparency it took four hearings and four nudges from the Supreme Court of India and the Chief Justice ofia I am I am too well trained to Res to succumb to the temptation of commenting on something that the Apex Court says I'll never do that all I'm saying is let me take you a step back this story is just unfolding okay and I can predict a time I'm speaking in my personal capacity not as a cabinet minister there will come a time you'll say yeah you know I spent um larger part of my 39 years in the multilateral system they're saying there beware of what you want you might get it and I think a lot of our people in the opposition and elsewhere they're asking what things those will become a millstone around their necks because I'll tell you whenever a government tries to reform I read a brilliant statement by somebody today what is holding India back why can't we grow on 9 to 10% yes we can we'll have to tweak we'll have to reform we will do that but this is a government the prime minister personally other he never says that this is the final position come and give me a good idea we'll act on it the semiconductor story before that the other stories the electric vehicle story The Green hydrogen the uh biofuel story this is an Indian transition and I think one country one vote I'm just giving you one um you know instead of having elections every 6 months if you have a system which is regulated once in five years first PR then another one all clumb together at an intermediary Point trans arent system of people wanting to because he was L1 or because of this so listen it's not for you and me to answer that the fact that you are trying to take the country its electoral it's Democratic functioning into a positive Arena that is the story and I think this is what the Modi government has succeeded in along will Kam krial make uh uh statements here and there he will say I have not been arrest I have not been convicted by the court or I've got relief you got no relief the point is I want to function I will issue dictat from sitting behind uh the um walls of uh uh wherever he is no I wherever he is wherever he is I don't know I he's in custody he in of an agency yeah now the point that operates under your government no my government yes but the point is not that the point is what is the combination here combination here is a man who got up he was an regularly recruited officer of the Indian Revenue Service took a long sabatical joined the anah hazare movement against uh Brar sat on the stage as anah haar said the other day where buy one get one free manufactur large amounts of money were made large amounts of money were distributed all that is there in evidence all the investigative agencies saying please come we want to talk to you November [Music] 23 when after the ninth summon he didn't appear that is when he was made to appear not about his own valtion the court told him to go there and now it has reached the state and now you go back and play victim he's AR his own case and he says the goala that is really happening is the conspiracy by the BJP to remove a popularly elected government to crush the arm admy party Wow Wow Wow first of all how arm is the army that requires a separate discussion I mean muff the transition I fast forward to Shish mahel okay arm admy to Shish mahel then secondly and now this is the more serious a story a story done by time why do you think I'm saying it I'm only saying things which you like obviously you broke the story no what what did they do his government had the audacity to lock up a young reporter of yours I remember it was I think in one of the Punjab cities a young girl all she was doing is taking that camera and going and asking question and one way of dealing with it is don't answer the question is I remember the you know the hu and cry the furo that arose after two three days they kept her locked up now I'm saying that here is the great lover of democracy the great lover uh of the people of Delhi who cares for their water situation so you're dealing with a highly complex and I think um you know stage artists and actors have this great Star Quality that tell me you know I have a 22-minute clip which was recorded about two years ago where I talked about his connections with those who who have no stake in the stability and integrity of India and I took that out to say by what these people are saying now when he went to chandigar in Punjab for the first time before the election whose house did he stay in you document all his connections and his party's connections with those who have funding from outside with the intent of destabilizing India it's all documented K forces K forces that you talking was saying from the industry now to you can't get a booking the flights of full I was civil aviation Minister I know what kind of a um you know I was talking about the khalistani for those ones also you know the nut cases around well but I I want to the question here by the opposition is you have an attack on their governments the manner in which the Congress sarcar in Himachal Pradesh is virtually being destabilized six of their MPS three Independents import export import washing machine senior colleague in India there's a freedom for any one of us to move from whichever City we live in to another city that freedom does not get curtailed when you join a political party even those Accused by you no no political party s IDE [Music] Jo part wants to do this they want to do that they want to remove Legacy dump sides they want to improve their and he came to the conclusion that vixit bhat and vikas would be better served if he was a member of the BJP now tell me as nirmala G says our doors are open they're not open to everyone by the way by the way a lot of people have come to into the BJP a lot more will come in the coming days but we had a good look he's a sitting MP without prejudice to anything else we welcomed him yesterday along with another MLA so the only employment exchange that is working in the country is the bjp's employment exchange giving political employment no I think you're being a little unfair there uh how many jobs we have created that we can have a separate session on and I think one of the uh um you know uh participants in a in a discussion put it beautiful when he put it down to simple arithmetic no I'm saying something else wherever whichever country in the world when a political movement is gained momentum today the BJP is not only the largest party in India it's the largest political entity in the world it is only a matter of time where a lot of people from parties left of center right of Center will want to gravitate towards in to the party for a number of reasons one they think they can contribute to its development effort and its uh um Sam SAA but also because they see a future for themselves now that tell me anyone sitting here including you and me if we were politically I mean I can't I'm I'm I've been associated with the BJP and the abpp for uh many moons but anyone else who wants to enter the political Future Would you seriously look at the congress party as a uh possible outfit to which you would want to move to tell me seriously I mean I only hear of people leaving the congress party I mean there may be somebody who goes there because of BJP is denied the ticket those may be I isolated cases but otherwise people move towards command appoint no no no wait a minute the party gets elected after that the party selects now if you're saying election or selection please election first you have to get elected then you like even in Parliament you you bring in the MPS were Le time we at the rate you're going one nation one pole one party you might have 543 seats inshallah I hope that also happens someday but I don't think this that's the intention by the wayament reservation 33.3% that's why we' built a larger Parliament newer Parliament and S is a conservative step Mr Puri now uh let me ask you uh you have to give me short answer this is a short uh answer uh round uh trick question answer uh if I want you to describe the BJP in just five six words how will you describe the BJP a pan India party committed to delivering development to making India vixit by7 and what I've seen there how much of that ground swell that sentiment gets translated into seats remains to be seen But there are still 22 days to go for the first ball and 60 for the next you would be surprised take um how will you describe the congress party it was a good good idea at one stage helped in the freedom struggle but soon will be referenced in the past tense the trinal Congress H the trinal Congress why do you want me to comment on them you a why do you want me to comment on them you're an auth I I I it has it has it has some very bright people but I think you imported or imported um you know the honorable chief minister there also was belonged to another party went there some of the other people came in also from uh different places it's a new it's a new party relatively speaking all I would say is that their model of governance and what they do in terms of um in election time is something that is deeply worrying and it's some which you can't sustain over a period of time these things will come to haunt them so let me ask you how do you see the bhat joro N yra the bhat you say too or did you say joro it was it's chent as bhat no maybe May hearing is a little impaired but I heard I think this is also another exercise which um given a little bit more uh time will be referenced in the past tense do you do you underestimate the power of the opposition not at all I'm deeply respectful of the opposition and I have always maintained and seriously that the a rising BJP needs a good opposition one which is credible so that we are questioned on policies but instead of questioning us on policies and engaging in serious political discourse all they do is Hal inside Parliament and walk out I mean look if you were shortsighted which we are not you would say we can pass any legislation we want to no that's not what is required they should get up and and engage Us in serious debate whenever an important issue comes up in both houses of Parliament they are conspicuous by their absence they do their discourse outside the Gandhi statue outside but they say there is no dialogue and it is uh almost a kind of uh dictatorship that you want in the country on every contentious issue that has come up in the last seven years that I've Been A Member of Parliament they have been invited of late last four five years they've ducked it on All Occasions they've ducked it because their fault lines get exposed they've ducked it because they don't have a serious argument so all I'm saying is I mean if you look at 370 or you look at anything else do you measure this these legislations or these attempts by the government in terms of making India stronger or do you not and if you bring your [Music] own you've had a citizenship act since 1955 I mean the fact is we had a partition in India the fact is a lot of people got left behind the fact is that in one of our neighboring countries the Hindu population was 26% it's come down to 1% the fact is people have had to flee people who fled from Afghanistan I had the privilege of bringing the gr Etc all those people have fled the gurdwaras were ransacked so do those people require a legitimate means an instrument to find residents here and what is the total number of people involved and you krial Uncle total number of jobs may be thousand or to job seek so you know this spreading of the false narrative that is the one point which cements all those members of the thing called that Gand Alli Alliance G Alliance that is one point which cemented them and other than that I mean they wanted X they wanted y SE since iar we want an alliance we wanted Alliance princip we wanted on princip principal C principal we should be recognized as the sole representative of the seik community represent they want an alliance now the point is people have lost sight of the ground reality by the way I was already a minister I was a member of the double digits double number number to Punjab Jammu Kashmir again again again h you got a wrong number here on that one I think and but I mean the designated agency to take that call is not me let me let me also ask you C rules notify the law was passed long ago the rules have been notified now only because the BJP loves to do this communal agenda and polarization politics one one minute one minute one minute communal agenda the fact of the matter is in the neighborhood because of the partition the the the communities they were not all Hindus they were siks they were Jans they were pares they got they got left behind and if they had been allowed to live in peace fair enough they could have come here without that piece of legislation also then they would have applied in the normal course India is a great country it's got this tradition of what's it called nonre we don't turn people back but you give some of them rules notify this is not a question I I don't see any any any um issue there but could have said Madam petol price I'm so happy you come back to energy security petrol price refence period it was the lowest in any country in the world because they were and we've had this conversation probably every conclave every platform that we sit on 2 November 21 3 years ago okay May 22 two years ago petrol crude 86 petroleum Minister natural gas Min L petroleum gas LPG diesel if we are able to One Nation one pole one party one party One Nation one po the idea is not to have an election every six month because every six month every election you will do a times now Summit then you [Music] say November 21 or May 22 there was no increase that is the good story India stable and after November 21 another reduction in May 22 and another 2 rupees reduction now that is the story graph is coming down you want us to see what you want us to see but we are seeing something else uh that's the difference in perception but the question will always remain and this is something that even at international plan platforms is uh discussed you are a powerful party you have uh uh the largest political party in India but do we as a democracy run the risk of completely eliminating the opposition because Jail arinal jail powerful [Music] powerful and your policies good governance becomes good politics and basis platform bis that is good politics and that is what is a power of a party were in Coalition I think she said our doors are open and doors are open to people who we think can bring some value lot of people have washing powder or washing machine democracy open door policy will always remain but the party by itself is growing from strength to strength I don't remember the exact figure but I think it wasal el7 with the grace of God well so uh in the end let let me just ask you uh if you were to give a newspaper headline on the 4th of June what would it be it's a little early for um 4th of June headline because I think all of you who run I think the headline will get better and better between now as I said 60 days are left uh for that uh thing to happen more than 60 days after all we are on the 28th of March now and the headline will have to on the fourth fourth fth headline uh news channels do uh same dates you are used to newspapers but we run Channel all all I can say is that um as we go forward from here I think you should shed your reticence get used to the idea that the BJP will work harder and harder and look I don't want to take I'm not the one to suggest for a moment that we would be should be complacent some of us get complacent it's a human um Frailty but I think when you start preparing the headlines on the fourth evening and the print media on the fifth morning it will be a transformational moment in the evolution of India's democracy you'll say democracy has arrived and it's anchored and BJP is taking it forward to 2047 well ladies and gentlemen Unstoppable hardip Singh Puri really talking big on Unstoppable India thank you very much Minister Puri for joining us at the times now sir

Channel: TIMES NOW

Views: 131,159

Keywords: hardeep singh, hardeep singh puri, times now summit, hardeep singh puri times now, minister hardeep singh puri, hardeep singh puri on abki baar 100 paar, hardeep singh puri news, hardeep singh puri interview, urban development minister hardeep singh puri, hardeep singh puri minister of urban development, hardeep singh puri in times now summit, minister hardeep singh puri in times now summit, minister hardeep singh puri lok sabha, interview of hardeep singh puri

Id: 05gqXa0Q10c

Length: 41min 1sec (2461 seconds)

Published: Thu Mar 28 2024