Congress could not communicate its achievements effectively: Deora

Deora and Sanyal interact with students of USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, Los Angeles, at The Indian Express office

Milind Deora, Minister of State for Information Technology and MP from Mumbai South, on Tuesday claimed that despite the Congress-led UPA doing a commendable job governing the country, the party had not been able to communicate its achievements effectively to the people.

“We (UPA) have not communicated our success well. For example, how many know that the number of mobile phones have gone up from seven crore to 90 crore since we took over the government in 2004,” said Deora, during an interaction at The Indian Express office in Mumbai with students of the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, Los Angeles. “The BJP is good at taking small things and magnifying it. In the last three years, we could have communicated our achievements better,” Deora said.

He added that his advice to foreign investors in the country, if Narendra Modi succeeded in becoming the Prime Minister, would be to withdraw their money after the first six months of Modi’s tenure. “If the BJP does come to power, the Modi-led government will be a very unstable one. It will survive for just six to nine months,” said the two-time MP.

Speaking about the Aam Aadmi Party, Deora claimed that it did not take up the challenge of governance when it had the chance. “I was one of the few from my party to have suggested that we should support them in Delhi. I thought we should give them a chance. When they quit the government, I lost all respect for them. There is no room for a quitter. I give them a 100 on 100 for their agitational skills, but zero for governance,” he said.

Speaking to the journalism students later, Meera Sanyal, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate from Mumbai South said she did not believe in reservations. AAP Maharashtra has, however, set up a four-member social justice committee comprising socialist leader Sanjeev Sane, tribal leader Vithal Lad, Dalit leader Lalit Babbar and activist Raju Bhise to study the issue of reservation for the Maratha community, which forms 30 per cent of the state’s population. The committee is also tasked with the job of formulating pro-reservation policy.

Terming it as purely her personal view, the former CEO of Royal Bank of Scotland said, “I do not believe in reservations based on gender, community, caste or religion. My 30 years of experience in corporate life has taught me that if you have the right process to encourage a dialogue among a diverse group, you will always get a better outcome. In India, there is no shortage of talent among women, Muslims and Dalit. What we need to do is provide an opportunity for the talent to rise and show itself.”

Sanyal said her views were not necessarily at cross purposes with that of her party as she believed in affirmative action for certain categories. “Being an urban child, I always thought that the caste card was exaggerated until I started my journey to the villages where caste is an everyday reality. So, when I say I do not believe in reservations, it is not an absolute statement. We have to bring everyone to the same starting block and hence in such cases reservations are needed for education and jobs in government departments,” she said.

mumbai.newsline@expressindia.com

Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram