'Ban Gaya', 'Mil Gaya' Have Replaced UPA's Empty Promises Under BJP: Nirmala Sitharaman In Lok Sabha

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman spoke against the no-confidence motion in Lok Sabha, saying that the BJP government had transformed India into the fastest-growing economy from being a fragile one.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday said that India no longer lives in a sceptical era plagued with empty promises.  "Transformation comes through actual delivery, and not through words. You showed dreams to people. We made their dreams a reality. We believe in empowering all and appeasement of none," Nirmala Sitharaman said during the no-confidence motion debate in Lok Sabha.

"Words like 'banega, milega' are not in use anymore. What are the people using these days? 'Ban gaye, mil gaye, aa gaye'. During UPA, people said 'Bijli aayegi', now people say 'Bijli aa gayi'. They said 'gas connection milega', now it's 'gas connection mil gaya'...They said airport 'banega', now they say airport 'ban gaya'," she said.

Sitharaman said that India is now transformed into the fastest-growing economy from being a "fragile" one.  She said the global economy is struggling with the twin challenges of high inflation and slow growth rate. She said the global economy grew just 3% last year. "The world bank is now forecasting in 2023, it will decline to 2.1%," she said. 

Citing examples of tumultuous times in the Eurozone, China and other nations, Sitharaman said, "In 2013, Morgan Stanley had included India in the list of five fragile economies of the world. Today, the same Morgan Stanley upgraded India and gave it a higher rating. In just 9 years, the economy rose and saw economic development due to the policies of our govt — despite COVID. Today, we are the fastest growing economy of the world."

She further said that India at present is in a rare position of being "optimistic and positive about its future growth". 

Speaking about the banking sector, Sitharaman said: "We have realised that the banking sector needs to be healthy and therefore we took a lot of measures. Banks are able to work without political interference, they are working with professional integrity. Banks mein failaya hua aapka raita hum saaf kar rahe hai [We are cleaning up your mess]."

She also said that India's economic tools had become so strong that UPI is being accepted worldwide.

Taking a dig at the "united" Opposition alliance, INDIA, the finance minister said: "People moved no confidence against UPA in 2014 and 2019 and defeated them. The situation will be the same in 2024. HM said yesterday, what was the need to change the name of UPA? It is tough to understand if they are fighting against each other or together."

Citing that the INDIA constituents were bickering with one another in various states, Sitharaman said: "Karnataka's Health Minister came to Delhi to see the mohalla clinics here. He came and said that there is nothing special in them and we are disappointed. This is just one of the examples of their fight."