Congress has seized initiative from BJP with Nyay: prithviraj Chavan

PUNE: Senior Congress leader and former Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan told ET that India’s air strike in Balakot will not benefit the Narendra Modi government in the general elections although it led to some initial gains, and that the Congress has seized the pre-election narrative from the BJP with its minimum income scheme, Nyuntam Aay Yojana (Nyay).

In an exclusive interview, Chavan said, “The BJP gained immediately after the air strike in Pakistan following the Pulwama terror attack. They (BJP) would have got around 210-220 seats (at that time). However, the gains are not visible on the ground any more. The effect has gone,” said Chavan. As a result, Chavan said he did not see Modi coming back to power. “In the Hindi heartland there are 273 seats; Modi won 223 seats last time from these states. Now, they are going to lose 100 seats from there. They will end up with around 170-180 seats,” he said. Asked whether the BJP could still form the government, Chavan said, “The BJP will absolutely not be able to form the government. Modi will definitely not be the PM. The BJP may try to form a government with another leader that they would elect, but who will they elect? Both Nitin Gadkari and Rajnath Singh are doubtful of winning their own seats.”

Talking about Nyay, Chavan said if the Congress comes to power it would fund the scheme by ensuring “better tax compliance” and reforms in goods and services tax (GST). “There is no comparison between our scheme and the BJP’s. They are talking of putting ?6,000 per year. We are saying we will put Rs 6,000 per month in your account. There will be no conditions.”