Congress wants to take India 50 years back: Jaishankar

The External Affairs Minister has also taken the critics of the BJP, who peddle a ‘Hindu-nationalist’ narrative, head-on. With regard to this, Dr. Jaishankar maintains, “Our biggest foreign policy shift is our Gulf relationships. If the narrative is true, why is the Gulf embracing us?”

New Delhi

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, in an exclusive interview with NewsX, spoke about the ideological battle between the BJP and the Congress in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

Asking the people to take a look at the Congress Manifesto, the External Affairs Minister said, “They’re trying to have it both ways. They won’t refer to CAA and will not talk about Article 370. But they know that national sentiment is in favour of the 2019 move.

Dr. Jaishankar stressed that on one hand Prime Minister Modi has delivered his promises, on the other the Congress wants to take India back 50 years. He said, “They think what happened in the pre-reform era wasn’t wrong. In fact, they feel they should do it again. It’s a view on your earnings, your savings, your property. They think the state will become arbiters of who will have what.”

Further, hitting out at the Congress party’s vow to conduct a wealth survey in the country, he has highlighted that such an endeavour is not to place the government under scrutiny but to put the people of the country under lens. Dr. Jaishankar emphasised, “They’re saying they believe in redistribution, in taxing. This is license raj, this is tax raj, this is permit raj, this is family raj. Their idea of India is an electoral monarchy.”

The External Affairs Minister has also taken the critics of the BJP, who peddle a ‘Hindu-nationalist’ narrative, head-on. With regard to this, Dr. Jaishankar maintains, “Our biggest foreign policy shift is our Gulf relationships. If the narrative is true, why is the Gulf embracing us?” He also opined, “After Independence, there was a conscious attempt to create a minority vote bank. I don’t think the Gulf buys it. They see India taking pride in its history and traditions.”