As the country looks up to a new government later this month, iTV Network organised the “India Next Conclave” on Friday, inviting leaders, policy makers and other stakeholders with their ideas of new India. Top Central government ministers, leaders from the ruling as well as Opposition parties participated in the conclave, discussing issues that ranged from politics, nationalism, infrastructure growth, education, national security and foreign policy.
Union Ministers Nitin Gadkari, Piyush Goyal, General V.K. Singh, Kiren Rijiju, Satyapal Singh, Jitendra Singh, Andhra Pradesh’s Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, and other leaders like Kapil Sibal, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Asaduddin Owaisi, Sam Pitroda, and actor and independent Lok Sabha candidate Prakash Raj were among the key speakers at the conclave.
AP Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, who participated in the conclave through a video link from Amaravati, laid out his agenda for the Andhra Pradesh capital. The CM said, “Amaravati will be a futuristic city… It will be among the top five cities in the world.” He also demanded special status for the state of Andhra Pradesh, and talked about his plans to link the Krishna and Godavari rivers, and about completing the Polavaram Project.
Former India cricketer Gautam Gambhir, who is the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate from East Delhi Lok Sabha seat, was a key attraction at the conclave, where he discussed his new role as a politician and his vision for making a strong India. The ongoing Lok Sabha elections, the formation of new government and political battles in states like Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Jammu and Kashmir and Kerala were the key areas of discussion during the
conclave.
During the power-packed event, the BJP leaders and Central ministers lauded the achievements of the Narendra Modi government in five years and came up with their ideas of continuing the success story in the years to come. Opposition leaders, particularly Sibal and Owaisi, disapproved of the BJP’s idea of nationalism and alleged that the Modi government was misusing the government institutions to further its political agenda.
Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal said the country will see at least 130 Vande Bharat, the semi high-speed train, in the next three years. He said all railway stations will be equipped with free wi-fi by September this year and that he has also instructed railway officials to install LED lights at all railway stations. He said the government will spend Rs 100 lakh crore on infrastructure building in the country.
Union Minister and senior BJP leader Nitin Gadkari said the designation of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief and Pulwama terror attack mastermind Masood Azhar as a global terrorist by the United Nations Security Council is a diplomatic victory for the country.
Gadkari said Pakistan should concentrate on infrastructure development and focus on education, health and scientific research, instead of supporting radical terrorism and waging war against India. Gadkari said if India decides to stop its share of water from flowing into Pakistan or diverts water from just three rivers and supplies it to Jammu and Kashmir or to drought-hit states in the country, Pakistan won’t be able to meet its daily requirement of water. He said Pakistan is so short-sighted that it is increasing its defence budget instead of fulfilling the promise of basic amenities to its citizens.
Gadkari, who is among the best performing ministers in the Modi government, also said that India will soon become an automobile hub and that the country was on the way to switch to alternate fuels and thus reducing its dependence of diesel and petrol.
During the event, noted actor and politician Prakash Raj targeted the BJP-led government for misleading the youth of the country with issues like nationalism and Hinduism. Instead, he said, the country faced more serious issues like job losses, economy and communal harmony.
Former Union minister and Congress leader Kapil Sibal accused the government of misusing government institutions like the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Election Commission (EC) to further its political agenda. He said that the Rafale deal was a big issue and that the Congress would continue to raise this issue even after the elections.
Asaddudin Owaisi addressed the conclave from Hyderabad in an exclusive interview with Priya Sahgal. Calling himself a constitutional nationalist he questioned whether listing Masood Azhar on the Global Terrorist list would achieve anything on the ground, for others listed still roam around freely. He also made the case for a non-Congress, non-BJP government at the centre, confident that if the BJP falls short then neither the TRS, Jaganmohan Reddy or Naveen Patnaik would support Modi.
Union Minister Satyapal Singh said the number of IITs and IIMs have gone up during the last five years. He said the government received more than 40,000 suggestions on education policy that are being reviewed. He said the government was committed to constructing the Ram Temple in Ayodhya and expressed confidence that work will start as soon the Supreme Court delivered its verdict on the matter.