Milind Deora Explains What Is Ailing Opposition | Times Now Summit 2024 | Lok Sabha Polls 2024

share his views on the topic what is ailing the opposition please welcome on stage Member of Parliament sh milind DEA in conversation with our senior executive editor for times now padmaja josi over to you padmaja good afternoon and thank you very much for joining us here on the times the house Summit uh milind has been kind and enough to take out time it's a very very busy season for all politicians first up Mr Dora since the theme of the session is what ails the opposition your opening thoughts it's been about 2 months since you left the congress party if you were to take a bird's eye view now of the workings of the Congress the opposition as a whole what would you say really ails it firstly padmaja thank you for having me and I apologize for being unable to be with um you in physically in in New Delhi um you know the question of what ails the opposition in many ways um as someone who's been a member of the opposition for 10 years I think one fundamental problem that the opposition has faced over the last decade since 2014 after UPA limited office and was uh replaced by the prime minister's um uh um uh by by Prime Minister nendra Modi G uh the opposition has failed to provide any constructive agenda any constructive suggestions to the people of India for the people of India that coupled with the fact that the alliance that we see today in the country is extremely opportunistic if I look at Maharashtra for instance the MVA the mavas aari um because UD did not get the chief Minister's chair in 2019 for the sake of power for the sake of money Shiva and Congress did the unthinkable and join hands and I think the people see through that that a there is not a constructive agenda before the people of India and be that the only agenda that is uniting all these parties together is to stop Narendra Modi G from taking India forward and I really believe that the people of this country country especially the voters most of whom are young we have the youngest electorate in the world they want progress they are aspirational they want India to go forward with social media with the Advent of 4G and 5G people have access to information around the world they are aware of India standing globally and in that sense to borrow your tagline India truly is Unstoppable and in that sense I think the NDA Alliance is truly Unstoppable people often talk about Charo par I fundamentally believe based on my own analysis that I doubt if the Indie Alliance will cross even 100 seats and that tells you the pitiful state of the opposition in the country to that's a that's a big claim saying that all of IND put together will not cross a 100 uh would you like to put your money on any number for the Congress in particular like they're being widely mocked as saying uh you know some people even said that I doubt they will enter double dig digits cross even 40 any number you all willing to wager I wouldn't want to bet on a number but what I can tell you as someone who knows Mumbai extremely well who's fought for Loa elections from Mumbai starting in 2004 Mumbai is all set to elect all six of its MPS to the NDA F once again and I I I I really fundamentally believe that the people of Mumbai the people of Maharashtra and the people of India are seeing through this opportunistic Alliance where just a few months ago for instance the Congress was demanding was calling what arm admy party had done the Delhi government's policy as corruption and that it was calling for arrests and is now calling arrests unconstitution is calling arrests undemocratic and the same applies in Mumbai and Maharashtra where till recently um udav takre and the Congress were calling each other all kinds of names and today they're working together and under just one objective which is to stop the Prime Minister and stop the Prime Minister from doing something positive for the country to stop the chief minister and the mahui government in Maharashtra from doing something positive for the state so I think people will see through this I think Mumbai is all set to elect six MPS there's not even a doubt in my mind about that and I honestly doubt and we'll see that on Counting Day in June but I honestly doubt and will be extremely surprised if the India Alliance crosses 100 seats one more question on Maharashtra before we look at a national overview we're talking on a day when the Congress and the shiv SAA are at odds over the seats which have been declared by the Sena ubt now you've had uh you know Sanjay nup coming out and saying shivsena has declared their candidate on Mumbai Northwest I was supposed to fight that seat you you've got even a Vara gwad who is unhappy with sangi being given to the Shiva when you look at what's happening around you right now is there a sense of despondency given the time and the years you and your family has given to the congress party or a sense of I told you so well you know to be honest now I've moved beyond the point of I Told You So the Congress for me is the past I'm looking towards the future I want to contribute in a constructive positive way my politics padmaja has always been constructive um I've always wanted to represent Mumbai and Maharashtra I've always represented Mumbai and Maharashtra in New Delhi so I I'm not surprised at what the sense of despondency in the Congress I warned the congress party in 2019 that the MV Alliance is purely opportunistic purely for the sake of money purely for the sake of for all the wrong reasons and that eventually this will hurt the party's interests uh the the Congress I think refuses to see the writing on the wall it's frustrating for it was frustrating for people like me I have many friends who continue to be in the Congress who I know find it frustrating but ultimately as an Indian Rising above party differences I think as an Indian I I'm sure everybody in your audience will agree with me when I say this that the country wants a strong opposition the country wants a strong opposition that is also constructive and I think that is something at least I hope that the Congress would aspire to that is something I hoped this India Alliance would aspire to to provide constructive suggestions on how we can take the country forward we are at a unique time in India's history there are massive geopolitical Tailwinds um the world is looking at D leveraging from China there's a China plus one strategy economically India has every opportunity before it to take advantage to provide jobs for our people to provide National Security for our people uh to provide growth economic prosperity and it's unfortunate it really hurts me in fact as an Indian that uh not one constructive suggestion from a party which has a very a very rich Legacy also I mean when I when I left the congress party I made a statement and I said that this is the party under Nimar Ra's leadership under Dr Manmohan sing's leadership that assured in economic reforms in 1991 let's not forget that and in 1991 the economic reforms today almost 33 years later who has been the biggest beneficiary of economic reforms the average Indian you and I people have access to services to better Insurance uh to better products and services because of economic reforms and I can give you my own example that in 2016 when the country should when the congress party should have celebrated 25 years of India's economic reforms in 2021 when the congress party should have celebrated 30 years of economic reforms it shied away from doing so it was embarrassed by its own legacy so unfortunately the the party which brought in these constru RVE ideas to India has moved towards negativity and towards opposing its own legacy and that's extremely unfortunate you know I have to say this the last three answers you've used the word opportunist for the Maharashtra vikas aari and I assume by extension the entire opposition Alliance why is it that when the BJP ties up with akat shind and Ajit Paar it's called chakya nii when they get a milind Deora and a jindia it's a master stroke but udav takre alliance with Congress and sharat Paar then it's opportunist how how are the two different either both of them are opportunist both of them are firstly people from other parties have also joined the Congress so people have different reasons for leaving a particular organization padmaja and your industry in the media it's not that people don't switch from Channel a to channel B ultimately everyone regardless of which profession you're in whether you're a politician whether you're a journalist whether you're a professional working in another sector you want to feel recognized you want to feel rewarded you want to feel empowered and you want to feel motivated if that if those aspects are taken away in your job and and the purpose for which you joined a particular career a particular profession those objectives no longer exist it's but natural for anyone to seek greener pastures and to seek a place a Greener pasture doesn't mean a place where you may get a post a Greener pasture could mean a place where you feel rewarded where you feel acknowledged for your talent where you feel acknowledged for your hard work and that's precisely the reason someone like me left the party I tried for 10 years during congress's most challenging period during its most difficult decade I stayed loyal to the party with no post mind you no post not uh not being a legislator not being a me having holding a position in the party for much of that 10 years I stayed loyal to the party but I always hoped and I always tried to bring about changes from within at one point you reach a stage where you know it's not going to change and it refuses to change it refuses to see the writing on the wall and at that point you want to be able to contribute I'm also mind you 47 years of age from the age of 27 to 37 I was in Parliament Congress gave me that opportunity I'm grateful for that I paid it back from 37 to 47 when as I said I stayed with the party during its most difficult decade but I want to be able to contribute during these years and I'm and I'm glad that this is a part party where today the the party that I'm a part of the leader who I work with he has a certain vision for Mumbai he has a certain vision for Maharashtra like the prime minister in the center he to is a self-made man he to is a man who's come from the from literally from the ground he's a man who works night and day and he has a vision to take the city and the state forward and that augers well with my core ideology which is to take Mumbai and Maharashtra forward I found that I was suffocated in the Congress and that's why I had to leave So when you say opportunism I think there is a fundamental difference in wanting to be able to be in a platform which allows you to work which acknowledges your talent and joining hands purely for the sake of power and I think that is what the India Alliance is doing not one constructive suggestion that the Congress that aadmi party that shiv Sena can offer this country only one suggestion let's eliminate let's let's make sure that Prime Minister Modi G doesn't come back and look at the excuses for instance they talk about democracy when the Supreme Court for instance uh strikes down electoral bonds at that point the Judiciary is working very well for the opposition when the Supreme Court um upholds 370 at that point they'll make a criticism that the Judiciary is compromised when they win elections the EVMS are working fine when they lose elections evm should be scrapped so this kind of hypocrisy this is opportunism in my opinion and this opportunism is what the people will judge in the months ahead in the weeks ahead and that's why I'm confident that Indie will not cross 100 seats some of the words that you have used uh you know at the time when you left the Congress and actually before that as well you had been speaking out periodically emotional suffocated I didn't get respect from who an individual a system an organization who made you feel unseen and suffocated in the Congress look I moved beyond the Congress there's no point now talking about the past um I'm looking towards the future as I said um I have no ill will towards anyone it to me it looks extremely clear that Narendra Modi G will be the prime minister of India once again in June what I can only hope for padmaja and I can only express this hope to express this through a platform and I hope that people on the other side will listen is that India gets a strong and a constructive oppos opposition to be a strong opposition to start with the opposition needs to be stop being destructive negative and offer constructive suggestions I still believe that there are people in the congress party many of whom are my close friends there are some people in the opposition many of whom I know very well and who I respect who have good suggestions who have good ideas I can only hope that the the the respective parties including the Congress allow those people who have their ear to the ground allow those people who have some domain expertise to write to be rewarded to be acknowledged to be empowered so that their suggestions can come to the Forefront and I hope that those who are only there to bicker and only there to present destructive and negative ideas and to be psychop are pushed to the back that in my opinion will give India the constructive and strong opposition that she desperately deserves did you say psychop is that the problem that there are psychop and ay who are misleading the opposition or at least certain leaders of the opposition again I I don't want to help too deep into the congress's the the reasons for the congress's problems but yes the the the I I I found uh the Congress what should I say I found it undemocratic I found it unopen to constructive suggestions there were many constructive suggestions I made from 2014 to 2024 all of which are in the public domain all of which are on my Twitter timeline all of them are on in the media uh all all of which were constructive for the interest of the congress party for the interest of the opposition and ultimately for the interest of India um it's unfortunate that Congress missed that opportunity and I can only hope going forward regardless of how many seats they get I don't think one should be very hopeful about the number of seats that the Congress and the opposition will get but regardless of the number of seats that the opposition and the Congress get I hope that they finally learn their lesson after 10 years and three successful defeats you know I'm going to be blunt you I'm sure has seen that you know much much circulated picture where in a frame you Jad cindia Sachin pilot rpn Singh are all in conversation with Rahul Gandhi inside Parliament and of course also because all of you practically began your journey pretty much together 2004 you entered Parliament so did Mr Gandhi you had Sachin pilot all of you very young ministers Moss's in the Manmohan Singh cabinet and now it's that picture has become symbolic of you know all people friends fellow Travelers Falling by the wayside and now talking about what went wrong do you think there was an over Reliance on the people in that picture it was a my friends and Pal's kind of a setup which didn't work in the long run trusting your inner quy more than the organization again I I I again let me move away from that but my simple point is that if one person had left the party uh we could call it an aberration if as you mentioned in that photograph with five political leaders if four or five of them had to leave were forced to leave it clearly means something is wrong organizationally something is wrong ideologically um something is wrong politically with that organization it clearly means there's a problem and different people left at different times I can speak for myself um I I stayed loyal for 10 years um I I've genuinely tried to bring about change from within I was one of those who wrote a letter what they famously called the G23 a constructive letter to the party a private letter demanding certain reforms demanding certain changes with the party's best interest in mind unfortunately constructive suggestions even in the even when suggested privately was seen as Revolt so beyond the point somebody has to ultimately ask themselves who are they loyal to to a particular party or to the country what is their purpose in politics self-preservation or to serve the nation and that's what I had those are the difficult questions I had to ask myself but then I finally realized that ultimately my goal and the reason I entered politics at the young age of 27 the first time that I got elected in 2004 was to serve my city was to serve my state was to serve my country and to bring forth constructive suggestions frankly to bring sides together to bring sides that don't agree on issues the politics that I have been raised seeing very closely my my late father uh you know he was credited for bringing about the insurance bill in the country which allowed the private sector to come into to enter the insurance sector and he worked with then Finance Minister yashan sinari who was the Finance Minister under Atari vajpai and my father was the chairman of the finance committee that's what politics is designed to do bring sides together we bicker we fight we we we you know attack each other especially during elections but in between elections during those 5 years the people expect us to work together to get things done and that is where I felt that there was a frustration within the Congress I felt that the Congress had moved away from 2004 when I enter the party where the Congress still held on to the belief that our objective is to bring people together get things done for the sake of the country after that I found the Conqueror on a destructive and negative path where the only goal is to oppose for the sake of opposing unfortunately that is not my politics uh you know I was uh looking at a few pictures of uh when you had accompanied Mr Gandhi I think in 2018 and 2019 to the Silicon Valley and in 2019 I think just before the elections you possibly gone to Singapore now the reason why I ask you this is that many people have actually wondered what is the purpose of these visits a similar visit was undertaken where bang in the middle of this bhat joro yatra when all the tickets are being announced and everyone's pouring over lists of candidates suddenly he went off to Cambridge as somebody who's accompanied on such trips can you tell us what is achieved is the Indian electorate being addressed is there another kind of wider political messaging what's the strategy there mad I wouldn't know what the strategy is today I know what the strategy was in 2018 when I arranged the first visit to the United States to Washington DC to Silicon Valley to New York City at that time the intention was very clear to present a constructive view of India to keep politics domestic politics within India but to present a constructive idea of India to the world that we are one regardless of our political differences we are one what has happened since then I cannot comment on that I have not been part of arranging those visits and I personally believe that when someone goes abroad when any leader for any political party I've always followed that policy from 200 there were many times in 2004 when as a member of the congress party we would go on multi-party delegations abroad and we would go for economic delegations political delegations I remember when the Indo US nuclear deal was being discussed it was a huge controversy the the BJP and the Congress weren't seeing eye to eye on it but when we went overseas and we talked to people we said regardless of our political differences we are united and what benefits India so that has always been my philosophy what is the Congress doing today who's organizing the visits what is the agenda for these visits I cannot comment on and the reason why this is pertinent is often these visits are called into question as some larger break India agenda uh maybe partially because on some of these visits for example the one in London comes to mind a couple of years ago where Mr Gandhi had made comments about how there is no democracy in India anymore the Press has been sold out the Judiciary is under duress as are all other institutions would you like to dispel some of the rumors about some great game which is anti India being uh you know fleshed out in those visits again I don't know what I I don't know who is organizing these visits today I know who has been organizing them in the past few years but all I can say is that under my watch I always believe that under my watch every political leader must present a constructive agenda when it comes to India we shouldn't we don't need foreign powers to come intervene and guide us and tell us what's right and wrong for our democracy I do believe that India is a healthy democracy and I think that parties that are undemocratic themselves um have no ability to claim to be able to strengthen or restore democracy in our countries parties that are undemocratic parties that are monarchist monarchic in nature how will they restore or strengthen democracy in our country so I find this a pass and I find this is something which I personally think that these are just excuses um that the opposition seems to be making it's election time they have to make excuses they have to set public expectations because they know what's going to happen in the next few months and I remember in 2014 when the Congress got from 20 I think six MPS um fell down to 44 MPS the Congress blamed a whole set of people 2019 it blamed a whole set of people institutions 2024 the same thing will happen but as long as the Congress does not see the writing on the wall as long as the Congress fails to reward acknowledge bring people who have their ear to the ground who are talented to the Forefront move towards a meritocratic system the Congress will continue to make such excuses know from that lifestyle to this your band is called third degree some people say working in the BJP Shiva is in itself third degree how are you going to balance the two well firstly I hope your audience hasn't left the room watching that long flip they haven't actually a dozen of them walked in well music is a part of my life music will never go away and as I mentioned to you earlier I'm still the same person I always was uh the the the the shiv Sena led by akat shind has uh he's he's very clear in what he expects from me my he he he's very clear in that he's asked me to represent Mumbai to represent Maharashtra uh shortly after I joined the party I was in Davos I saw how hard he worked to bring Investments to to Maharashtra to bring jobs to Maharashtra I saw the kind of competition in Davos where different states are competing so these are areas padmaja which I'm good at and this is how I hope to serve my city my state and my country uh music is obviously a passion that will never go away certainly this system is certainly a very hardworking system um it's a certainly a very um a demanding system they're obviously in the midst of the election period so the guitar is the strings are getting rusty right now but I'm sure I'll have time in the months and years ahead to pick it up again but you know the image of the shiv SAA is you know it's a Grassroots party the shakas the rallies and blues and jazz is slightly more elevated Pursuit don't you think there is going to be in the mind of the SAA voter I don't think so I don't I don't see that at all and I think that um you know I think the Sena represents in many ways mumbai's ethos and mumbai's Ethos is extremely diverse Mumbai has trib Mumbai has become has been and remained the economic capital the cultural capital uh the creative capital of India because of its diversity and every Community regardless of which language you speak regardless of which Community you belong to regardless of which state you've come from uh the the the the Sena has always given that representation to people believe it or not and so and I think Mr shind is an extremely what should I say a a very modern politician he's somebody who has a very Grand Grand Vision for the city he has a very Grand Vision for the state he's somebody as I said who's very demanding very hardworking um somebody who who's Cut From the Same Cloth as the Prime Minister uh the Prime Minister was a chiala Who Rose to become Prime Minister purely based on his hard work and his dedication the chief minister for those who don't know was an auto rickshaw driver a three-wheeler driver in in p and he rose based on his hard work to become chief minister of Maharashtra so so I'm I'm excited by the prospect of working with a man like him in a party like the ship Sena and they've given me a lot of space and I think they want different opinions to come together they want people from different backgrounds to come and you'll see many more people from different backgrounds from different walks of life from different communities joining us working um shoulder Tosh shoulder with us in the months ahead final question you're in the rajha yet you are taking public meetings in South Mumbai are you going to fight the Lo SAA elections many rajas saaba members have are you going to do the same well I'm I'm you know the the chief minister has sent me to the rajas SAA yes that's true and I've recently been elected I yet I've yet to take oath I hope to do that next week when the rajas saaba term begins it begins on April 2nd but ultimately the goal of this Alliance in Maharashtra is to ensure that every seat goes to the NDA and every seat strengthens the prime minister's hand so if the alliance if the chief min Minister if my party decides that I should fight the Lo SAA election from South Mumbai I'm more than ready to do so uh this is a constituency where my family has my family has been fighting elections mind you padmaja from 1980 non-stop my father fought the the Lok SAA elections from 1980 to 1999 I fought the elections from 2004 to uh 2019 for elections so this is a constituency which we know very well we know the back of our hand uh we have a very wide Network cutting across communities um and so as I said if this is something that the party and the alliance wants me to do I'm more than happy to do that the ultimate goal as I said is to ensure that every seat in Mumbai every seat in Maharashtra goes to the NDA which I'm very confident will happen and if I'm if the alliance feels I'm the best candidate to achieve that objective I'm more than ready and more than eager to do so so I will take that as a yes and let's hope maybe this time at the theera r we'll have a blues and jazz festival as well thanks very much mil the guitar thank you very much can we have a round of applause for the members

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Length: 28min 5sec (1685 seconds)

Published: Thu Mar 28 2024