Oppn unity a myth: Ravi Shankar Prasad

While Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his deputy Tejashwi Yadav are in Bangalore for the swearing-in ceremony of the newly-elected Congress government, BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad on Saturday said that the opposition unity is nothing but a myth.

"Nitish Kumar and Tejashwi Yadav are in Bangalore for the swearing-in ceremony and no one is objecting to it but where is the opposition unity? Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik gave it a miss. Instead of attending it herself, Mamata Ji has sent her party representative. Bharat Rashtra Samithi of Telangana has not even sent its representatives. Hence, if anyone claims that the event would showcase the opposition unity, it is nothing but a farce," Prasad said.

"The event in Karnataka is a swearing-in ceremony and not a show of the opposition unity," he said.

"In spite of all this, I must say that there is no vacancy of prime minister in 2024. Narendra Modi will continue as the Prime Minister," Prasad said.

"The country needs a strong government, a permanent government which only the BJP can provide. This government has made the fifth biggest economy in the world. The respect of the country has increased in the world," Prasad said.

On the withdrawal of Rs 2000 currency note, Ravishankar Prasad said: "This is a decision of the Reserve Bank of India and it has explained everything extensively. RBI claimed that the Rs 2000 denomination notes were brought in 2016 and as its transaction is very low in the market. On the other hand, the transactions of other notes are high. Hence, RBI is withdrawing it. People have time to exchange the notes till September 30. RBI does such an exercise from time to time," Prasad said.