Session – The Winning Mantra – Who will win the battle of 2014?
The India Today Conclave came alive as Union Minister for Communication and IT Kapil Sibal and Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje battled it out on the prospects of their respective parties, and inevitably, on Narendra Modi. Raje attacked the UPA Government's policies and accused it of not divesting powers to the states, provoking a dogged defence from Kapil Sibal. Raje was scathing about the NREGA, alleging that it had made the village youth dependent on doles that discouraged them from working on farms as labourers, creating a crisis in the farm sector. Sibal countered, saying, "If her charges were true, how did India's agricultural production go up from 203 to 263 million metric tonnes during UPA rule?" He also displayed his recently-publicised penchant for poetry with a sarcastic poem on Narendra Modi that painted the PM-hopeful as a self-obsessed climber. He signed off saying, "Wait for May 26 for the people to give their verdict."