2019 battle is between politics of development vs politics of lies: BJP MP

The 2019 Lok Sabha polls will be a battle between "politics of development" and "politics of lies", BJP MP Anurag Thakur said Tuesday.

The MP from Hamirpur in Himachal Pradesh attacked Congress president Rahul Gandhi, saying, "his politics is all about lying on every issue".

"This battle (general elections) is between truth and lies, the upcoming polls will be a battle between politics of development and politics of lies," he said.

The Congress chief's politics is all about lying on every issue, but time and again the party's lies have been exposed, Thakur said.

"The recent example is misleading the people by spreading lies and misinformation on the Rafale fighter jet deal, but their lies were ultimately exposed by the Supreme Court, he told reporters here.

Replying to a question on the loss of the BJP in the Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh assembly polls, Thakur said there was nothing to indicate that anti-incumbency was a factor behind his party's loss in these states.

"The media used to say that the BJP will get 30 seats in Rajasthan, will badly lose in Madhya Pradesh.

"When the Congress lost the (assembly) polls in Madhya Pradesh in 2003, they were restricted to 23 seats, in Rajasthan they got 27 seats last time whereas BJP (despite losing the 2018 assembly polls in these states) won 75 seats in Rajasthan and 109 seats in MP. Had anti-incumbency been there, we would have been wiped out, he said.

The Congress's "false propaganda" in Mandsaur in Madhya Pradesh on farmers' issue had failed to work. "There, we won seven out of the eight seats, the BJP MP said.

"The truth remains that in Madhya Pradesh our vote share was more, but we lost six seats within a margin of 3,600 votes. In Rajasthan, we lost by mere half per cent vote share, he said.

"When the general elections will be held, then people will decide who will lead the country.

"On one side, you have a party and its leader who speaks lies on every issue and on the other hand there is a party which is taking country forward in all fields," the BJP MP said.

The people of the country are wise and they know about the development works that have been undertaken during the past four and a half years by the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre, he said.

Thakur also highlighted several initiatives taken by the Modi government for the welfare of various sections of society.

Lashing out at the proposed mega coalition or 'mahagathbandhan' of opposition parties to take on the BJP in the 2019 polls, he termed the proposed alliance "unholy".

On the prospects of SAD-BJP alliance in Punjab for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Thakur claimed the alliance will sweep the polls.

Attacking the Congress government in Punjab, he said they talked about wiping drug menace within a month, but the truth is that the menace has grown".

"Tall promises were made to the farmers (by the Congress government in Punjab) on loan waiver, but the peasants have not got what they were promised," Thakur said.

He claimed that people have started asking why the present Punjab government was the excuse of empty coffers, when the previous SAD-BJP dispensation always had funds for development.