Not ruling out possibility of alliance with AIADMK: Goyal

CHENNAI: Skirting the issue of reviving the snapped ties between his party and the AIADMK, Union Industries Minister and senior BJP leader Piyush Goyal on Monday said that the air was pregnant with possibilities and everything was possible in life except an alliance between the BJP and the Congress.

Interacting with a select group of journalists over lunch in the city, Goyal said, “Everything is possible in life except possibly an alliance between Congress and BJP. The possibility does not exist. The possibility of an alliance between the BJP and AAP or BJP and RJD does not exist because we have never had an alliance with them.” Reacting to a specific query on a possibility of reviving ties with the AIADMK, a reticent Goyal said, “I don’t know what is happening in local politics. But, we have all heard the phrase that the air is pregnant with possibilities. Life is full of possibilities. What is not possible?”

Asked if the BJP was at such a stage where they do not want to or cannot forge an alliance in Tamil Nadu, the Union Minister said, “We are progressing very well in Tamil Nadu. I have attended En Mann, En Makkal yatra (of state BJP chief K Annamalai). He has done a fantastic job building the party and popular fan base, which is enviable. Tamil Nadu is looking for fresh leadership going beyond old traditional politics. It had its relevance at one point of time. Over the years, it has lost its charm among the common man who is looking for a whiff of fresh air.”

Goyal also added that the BJP was not desperate for alliance anywhere in the country, let alone Tamil Nadu.

Sparing a thought for the opposition INDIA bloc, the Union Minister said, “INDIA is just UPA in another theme. They have fought together against us in the past. Tell me one place in India where the INDIA added a single vote to anybody’s kitty outside the state between 2014 and 2024.”

Engaging queries related to the export targets of the Centre, the Minister referred to windfall tax on fuel this year and said that the country’s exports grew 55 per cent from US $ 500 billion to US $ 776 billion in two years. Such scorching growth is not possible to continuously sustain. We need to cool off and stabilise our supply side. The domestic demand is so huge we are not able to meet the demand within India. We have restricted exports worth US $12 billion in the current year due to demand within India. The restriction could reach US $ 20 billion before the end of the year. With all the steps, we will cross US $ 776 billion in exports. We cannot reach US $ one trillion this year.”