"Congress Promises Moon, Can't Deliver": Hardeep Puri To NDTV On Guarantees

The petroleum minister said that, after the Haryana loss, the Congress is seeing the writing on the wall for the Maharashtra and Jharkhand elections.

Amid the Congress-BJP war over guarantees and the comments by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri has said the opposition party promises the Moon, but can't deliver.

Speaking exclusively to NDTV, Mr Puri drew a distinction between what he called the 'freebie' model of the opposition and the 'labharthi' (beneficiary) model of the BJP, which drives development. The minister also spoke about the alleged Mysore Urban Development Authority (MUDA) scam in Karnataka and the derogatory remark made by a Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) MP against former BJP leader Shaina NC, who has now joined the Shiv Sena faction led by the party's ally, Eknath Shinde. 

On the statements by Mr Kharge and PM Modi over the Congress president reportedly pulling up Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar for his comments hinting at a review of one of the party's guarantees in the state, Mr Puri said, "A governance model which is successful, which delivers economic growth and welfare to the people is a governance model. Any other model, which bases itself on freebies, or on empty promises not grounded in reality, is not a governance model."