New Delhi:

Dynastic opposition parties are so disconnected from the youth that they have not been able to fathom the changes that are taking place, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said.

In an exclusive interview with NDTV’s Editor-in-Chief Sanjay Pugalia, the PM spoke on a range of issues, including his roadmap for the future, focus on infrastructure, the BJP’s prospects in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections, and foreign policy. 

Answering the opposition’s allegations on unemployment, the Prime Minister said many new avenues of employment generation have been created under his government and data from various sources also belies the claims of his critics.

Pointing to all the infrastructure projects carried out by his government, the PM said in Hindi, “The first thing to know is that so much work cannot be done without manpower. Just spending  money does not mean a road is built or work on the electrification of the railways is carried out. You need manpower for that. Which means employment opportunities are created. I can’t see any issue or truth in the opposition’s talk of unemployment.”

“I believe dynastic parties can’t understand the changes that are taking place among the youth. Before 2014, there were only a few hundred startups and now there are 1.25 lakh such companies. Each startup employs many bright youngsters. There are 100 unicorns as well, which means business worth Rs 8 lakh crore. And these are people in the age group of 20-25, they are our sons and daughters,” he added.

Strides have also been made in the gaming arena, the PM said, adding that India will be a leader in the field and young people between the ages of 20 and 22 years will show the way. Another emerging area, he stressed, is the shift from an entertainment economy to a creative economy and said he firmly believes India’s creators will capture a significant share of the global market. 

“Green jobs are also being created. Look at the aviation sector. There were 70 airports, now there are 150. My estimate is that the total number of aircraft in the country is 600-700 and an order has been placed for 1,000 new planes. Can anyone even imagine how many kinds of people will get employment? Therefore, this narrative is being peddled by people in politics who only know how things were 30 years ago and are talking about the same things,” he said.

‘Unemployment Halved’

Using numbers to back up his claims, Prime Minister Modi cited data from the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) and said it had shown that unemployment has been halved. 

“The PLFS data also states that 6 crore new jobs have been generated in six to seven years. The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation has also said the same thing. I ran a big campaign for government jobs as well, and these people (the opposition) keep shouting about employment,” he said.

Referring to a report released by the SKOCH group, PM Modi asserted, “It said 5 crore person-years of employment have been generated every year for the past 10 years. And they have used 22 parameters to say this. It’s backed up by research. All of this can be seen on the ground as well, it isn’t restricted to data alone.”

The Prime Minister is eyeing a historic third straight term in office and has set an ambitious target of winning 370 Lok Sabha seats for the BJP and over 400 for the NDA. Four phases of the ongoing election have been completed and the fifth is on Monday. 

New Delhi:

“Hamara palda bahut bhari hai (The scales are tilted in our favour),” Prime Minister Narendra Modi told NDTV in an exclusive interview, projecting confidence in his ability to secure a third straight term for his party, BJP, in the Lok Sabha elections.

Four rounds are over in the marathon six-week general election, the second biggest since the general election of 1951-52. Three more rounds remain. The votes will be counted on June 4.  

“Itna bada desh. Aap jisko (vote) dene jaa rahe ho, jaante ho kya, uska naam pata hai kya, uska anubhav pata hai kya. Toh ye desh ki janta dekhti hai. Koi party apne naam bataaye ya na bataaye woh tolti hai (It is such a big country. Do you know whom you want to give your vote to? Their name, their experience? The nation sees everything. Whether the party names the person or not, the voters assess them),” PM Modi said in an interview with NDTV’s Editor-in-Chief Sanjay Pugalia.  

“Aur hamara palda bahut bhari hai usme mujhe kuch kehne ki jaroorat nahi hai. Hamara palda bhaari hai, har koi jaanta hai (The scales are heavily tilted in our favour. I don’t have to say anything about that. We have the upper hand. And everyone knows it),” the Prime Minister, 73, told the channel.

The Congress, attenuated by poll losses and a string of defections, is part of the Opposition bloc INDIA taking on the BJP.

The Prime Minister, who has tasked his ministers to come up with an action plan for the first 100 days of his new government, told NDTV the route to success – stressing on scope, scale, speed and skill.

“The scope should be very big, it shouldn’t be in parts, and the second thing is scale, which should also be large. The speed should be in sync with these two. So, scope, scale and speed, and then there should be skill. If we can get these four things together, I believe, we achieve a lot,” said the Prime Minister, who is contesting from Varanasi.

The BJP swept the politically prized state of Uttar Pradesh, which sends most number of MPs (80) to Lok Sabha, in 2014 and 2019, winning 71 and 62 seats, respectively.

Congress, the principal opposition party, is contesting 17 seats in the state. It is in alliance with Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi party, which is contesting on 63 seats.

Rahul Gandhi, 53, is contesting from the family stronghold of Raebareli, a seat represented by his mother Sonia Gandhi five times. Akhilesh Yadav, too, took the poll plunge and is contesting from Kannauj.

Tune in tomorrow at 8 pm to watch the interview, which will be aired across the NDTV network.