Hung parliament an illness; stalled development for 30 yrs: PM

January 30, 2019 18:31

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday stressed the need for a full-majority government at the Centre, saying "hung parliaments" stalled the country's progress in last three decades.

Addressing a gathering in Surat, he also defended the government's demonetisation move, saying it brought down prices of houses and made them affordable for the young generation by checking black money in the real estate sector.

"As you all know, India witnessed instability for 30 years due to hung parliaments, as no party received a majority. This had stalled the country's development. And the country even regressed on some parameters due to that situation," Modi said.

"We are progressing today because the people applied their wisdom in casting votes (in 2014 elections). Their votes eradicated that 30-year-old illness called hung parliament and helped form a full majority government at the Centre," the prime minister said.

"You can ask me what I have done and I can give you answers because you voted for us unanimously. We have done what we have done because of the mandate we got. If we were a coalition government, then we could have given many reasons for not functioning properly," he said.

Modi was speaking after laying foundation stone for extension of the terminal building of Surat Airport.

The prime minister said his government in the last four and a half years constructed 1.30 crore houses, as against 25 lakh houses built under the previous UPA government.

"Just compare those 25 lakh houses with 1.30 crore. If the previous governments had to do the work we have done so far, they would have needed another 25 years," Modi said.

The prime minister also justified his government's decision to scrap old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes in November 2016.

"I was asked what has been benefit of the note-ban decision. You should ask it to the youth, who could buy houses at affordable rates after the decision.

"Black money used to be parked in the real estate sector, but with decisions like note-ban and RERA (setting up of Real Estate Regulatory Authority) we put a check on it," the prime minister said. -- PTI

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