Union Minister Nitin Gadkari credited former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh with the phrase “Acche Din” at an event in Mumbai, on Tuesday.
The minister traced the etymology to a Delhi conference, when Manmohan Singh promised Acche Din in the future in response to questions from NRIs at the event.
“Then Modi-ji said it somewhere and it got stuck to us,” Gadkari said.
Achhe din kabhi nahi aate. Achhe din ke naare gale mein fasi haddi hain. (Good days never come. The slogan of Achhe din is a bone stuck in the throat for the National Democratic Alliance government.)Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister
Responding to a query by former MP Vijay Darda, the minister said, “We just used the words ‘Achhe Din’ and it should not be taken in the literal sense. It should be interpreted as progress is being made.”
The promise of Acche Din was a top keyword in BJP’s campaign for the 2014 national election. But the phrase deemed a big hit with voters has since been mocked by opposition parties and BJP critics to target the government on what they call unfulfilled promises.
(With inputs from PTI)
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