The AAP is announcing lots of freebies. What is your take on the politics of freebies?

We need to understand that there should be no competition on providing free sops. Even after the Covid pandemic, we have not put any additional tax burden on people. We have given a budget at 1.6 percent fiscal deficit ratio. If the fiscal deficit crosses the three per cent threshold then the central government can reject it. But due to the Covid pandemic the central government has given some relaxation of upto 4.5 per cent. The Rajasthan government has presented the budget with an almost 4.5 per cent fiscal deficit ratio. If someone wants to distribute for free then they can do that, but in Gujarat, financially we have stuck with the Gujarat model.

Once Prime Minister Modi occupied the office that you are now holding. Do you feel any pressure?

You need to understand that there is only one Narendra Modi. We have to work under his leadership. It is not possible to work like Narendra Modi and globally also no one can match the work done by him. And whatever Modi has done has made us proud. We are also trying to work, but we get nervous or feel challenged sometimes. One can imagine how hard he worked and brought the state on the path of development with his vision.