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NDA ministers are not dummies, says Union minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore

Rathore stated that the development in India has improved along with stability and confidence
Hyderabad: Union minister of state for information and broadcasting Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore stated that the development environment in India has improved along with stability and confidence in the government. “India has gone up in the estimation of nations, particularly among neighbours in last one year,” he said.
He dismissed Opposition leader Jaipal Reddy and others allegations that the NDA government is a one-man show and that ministers were reduced to “dummies and toys”. “It’s a decision taking government. People voted for a change. What UPA could not do in 10 years, NDA did in one year. At least, the Prime Minister is taking decisions now. The office of the Prime Minister is getting the respect that is due to it now. The PM is not a toy,” he said.
On Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi giving zero marks to the Modi government, he said it was not surprising. Mr Gandhi has zero capacity hence he gave zero marks, he said. Mr Rathore was in Hyderabad to present the Modi government’s one year’s report card. He interacted with the media, party leaders and cadre at the party office and a star hotel.
He refuted former Union minister S. Jaipal Reddy’s charge that ministers in the NDA government are “toys/dummies” and that senior leaders L. K. Advani and Sushma Swaraj were sidelined. The former ace shooter and ex-service man pushed his chest out and said, “Tell me, do I look like a dummy to you.”
India’s image in the comity of nations especially neighbours has gone up under the Modi government, the minister said. He also hit back at the Congress saying if it calls the Modi government ‘suit-boot ki sarkar’ then they were ‘loot-phoot’ sarkar. “They keep on saying ‘suit-boot ki sarkar’, then ‘loot-phoot’ sarkar will also come in to use,” he said.
India interacted with China, improved ties with Bhutan, Nepal and Bangladesh and several other countries in a short span. To another question, he said the Prime Minister wants to take everyone along and believes in working as a team which also comprised Chief Ministers with the launch of Niti Aayog. Replying to a query on allowing FM channels to broadcast news, he said the UPA government did not allow it in the phase-II auction and that the government for now has decided that AIR’s content would be broadcast as it is. “In two scams, the allocation of coal blocks and spectrum, we got back public money - Rs 3 lakh crore and Rs 1 lakh crore, respectively. This is just the beginning,” he added.
( Source : dc correspondent )
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