Arun Jaitley
This time unlike in 2003, roads, power and water are no longer poll issues in Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled Madhya Pradesh, said Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in Jabalpur on Sunday.
Jaitley was addressing a 'Prabuddhjan Sammelan' (intellectuals' meet) organised by the saffron party.
"Sadak, bijli, pani (roads, power, water) are no more issues in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly polls scheduled on November 28," Jaitley said.
"The Assembly elections of 2003 (when the Congress was in power) were fought on three issues, roads, power and water. The condition of roads was very poor then and I was advised by partymen to travel from one district to another by helicopter or train and not by road," he said.
The BJP government in the state had improved the quality of roads and strengthened road connectivity, power and water supply, said the Union Minister.
The state, under the BJP rule, has shed its "Bimaru" (backward, laggard) tag and become "aspirational", Jaitley said.
He also claimed there was no social or economic discontent in the country. "Had there been discontent, opposition parties would have launched a movement against the government," he said.
He also attacked Congress president Rahul Gandhi and said he is "mindless".
After independence, till now, he is the first mindless politician, said Jaitley.
