'Politics is chemistry, not physics', says Amit Shah on coalition govt ahead of UP, Punjab polls

Union home minister Amit Shah Saturday talked about coalition politics and said, “politics isn’t physics, it’s chemistry.” He was addressing the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit (HTLS) on its final day, and emphasized that India was in a state of ‘policy paralysis’ before 2014, and it was changed by the present dispensation. “It’s not accurate to assume that when two parties get together, the vote banks will add up. In UP, the BJP will win with a huge majority,” Shah said. He talked about how Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has transformed the country in the last seven years and listed the achievements of the Centre- the surgical strike, repeal of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, handling of the Covid-19 pandemic. “India witnessed a stable government after 2014. Before 2014, India was in a state of ‘policy paralysis’. India’s dignity suffered, every minister thought he/she is the prime minister. PM Modi has successfully solved many issues with patience and planning,” he said. He mentioned how India’s dignity suffered before 2014, and said that every minister thought they were the prime minister and people started questioning the multi-party democracy. “The main reason was there was no delivery. PM Modi has successfully solved many issues with patience and planning.” Listing several other development initiatives, Shah said, “If I go on, you will think it’s an excerpt from Mahabharata or Ramayana.” The home minister said that due to numerous steps taken by the Modi government, the forex increased from 473 billion to 640 billion. He added that Modi included 80 crore people who were never a part of the country’s progress, said Shah, listing direct benefit transfer (DBT), poverty alleviation, rural electrification and other programmes launched by the government. The former BJP president said the Modi government also resolved the issues in the financial sector with discipline and reduced the share of non-performing assets (NPAs) of banks to a minuscule amount. Shah said that India’s defence policy came out of the shadow of foreign policy and we gave a fitting reply to incursions from across the border by “surgical strikes”.