Jyotiraditya Scindia attacks BJP on farmers’ distress, intolerance and jobs
Shafaque Alam | TNN | Updated: Apr 8, 2019, 08:32 IST
Jyotiraditya Scindia referred to demonetisation and women's safety at the meet, attended by thousands of supportersNOIDA: Congress’s west UP in-charge Jyotiraditya Scindia on Sunday slammed the BJP government at the Centre and state over farmers’ issues, safety of women, unemployment and “growing intolerance” in the country. Scindia was addressing a modest gathering of 1,000 party members in support of candidate Arvind Kumar Singh. Named “Sadbhavana Sammelan”, the programme in Sector 51 was organised by the Congress’s minority cell and aimed at consolidating minority votes in Noida and Greater Noida.
Scindia hailed Uttar Pradesh as a place of samagam (confluence) of holy rivers and different faiths and held the BJP responsible for a deterioration in law and order. “UP is a place of communal harmony and secularism. But since the BJP formed the government, farmers are oppressed, women are unsafe, youths are unemployed…,” he said.
Referring to farmers’ distress, he said: “Peasants are not getting a reasonable price for their harvest. Sugarcane growers are oppressed in western UP. Farmers from Kashmir to Kanyakumari are oppressed. Police under the BJP government opened fire at farmers in Mandsaur.” The Congress leader was referring to a farmers’ agitation for better support price of their crop in which six protesters were killed two years ago.
Scindia also took a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his foreign visits. “I told the Prime Minister ‘you visited Berlin, London, Tokyo. When will you visit India’s farmers?’” he said. “The BJP government is proving to be ‘paan aur pakode ki sarkar’,” he added.
Scindia claimed that unemployment rate had increased manifold across the country under the BJP government. “Recently, the government had issued an advertisement for the post of peons. Around 93,000 people had applied for the jobs, among them were 28,000 PhD holders, 25,000 with PG degrees and 30,000 graduates. This is the situation that the Modi government has created in the past five years,” he said.
He also lashed out at the BJP government over its promises of creating jobs, crackdown on black money and demonetisation. “Demonetisation was a whimsical idea, much like ‘aaj kuch toofani karte hain’ (a tagline of a soft drink commercial). It killed 125 innocent people,” he said. Scindia said the BJP government has no right to be in power if it can’t ensure the safety of women, in an allusion to the Unnao rape case. He also took a dig at the Centre over its claims of acting tough against Pakistan and China, saying: “It was the Indira Gandhi-led government that forced Pakistan to its knees.”
Referring to the Akhlaq and Junaid lynching cases, he said: “There is an environment of growing intolerance in the country. This country celebrates Ramzan and Diwali. Ramzan has Ram and Diwali has Ali. We have to launch a movement to save the social fabric.”
The Congress leader referred to chief minister Yogi Adityanath a few times, but there was no mention of the SP-BSP alliance in his 25-minute speech, suggesting that the party was in a direct contest with the BJP. Scindia held another public meeting in Dhaulana, where he reached two hours late. Here, too, he attacked the BJP government in UP and at the Centre. Scindia slammed the BJP over farmers’ issues and slack industrial development in Ghaziabad.
“The Congress brought an industrial revolution here. However, in the past five years, they not only failed to open industries, but also closed down existing ones,” he said. Scindia referred to women empowerment and said the Congress respected it with its decision to field Dolly Sharma from Ghaziabad.
Hitting out at Modi, Scindia said the country was made of “a 56-inch heart” and not “a 56-inch chest”. “Modi ji’s “acchhe din” is over and Rahul ji’s “sacchhe din” is coming.” Before Scindia arrived at the meeting venue, actress-turned-politician Nagma made a brief appearance and urged people to vote for Dolly Sharma.
(With inputs from Aditya Dev)
Scindia hailed Uttar Pradesh as a place of samagam (confluence) of holy rivers and different faiths and held the BJP responsible for a deterioration in law and order. “UP is a place of communal harmony and secularism. But since the BJP formed the government, farmers are oppressed, women are unsafe, youths are unemployed…,” he said.
Referring to farmers’ distress, he said: “Peasants are not getting a reasonable price for their harvest. Sugarcane growers are oppressed in western UP. Farmers from Kashmir to Kanyakumari are oppressed. Police under the BJP government opened fire at farmers in Mandsaur.” The Congress leader was referring to a farmers’ agitation for better support price of their crop in which six protesters were killed two years ago.
Scindia also took a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his foreign visits. “I told the Prime Minister ‘you visited Berlin, London, Tokyo. When will you visit India’s farmers?’” he said. “The BJP government is proving to be ‘paan aur pakode ki sarkar’,” he added.
Scindia claimed that unemployment rate had increased manifold across the country under the BJP government. “Recently, the government had issued an advertisement for the post of peons. Around 93,000 people had applied for the jobs, among them were 28,000 PhD holders, 25,000 with PG degrees and 30,000 graduates. This is the situation that the Modi government has created in the past five years,” he said.
He also lashed out at the BJP government over its promises of creating jobs, crackdown on black money and demonetisation. “Demonetisation was a whimsical idea, much like ‘aaj kuch toofani karte hain’ (a tagline of a soft drink commercial). It killed 125 innocent people,” he said. Scindia said the BJP government has no right to be in power if it can’t ensure the safety of women, in an allusion to the Unnao rape case. He also took a dig at the Centre over its claims of acting tough against Pakistan and China, saying: “It was the Indira Gandhi-led government that forced Pakistan to its knees.”
Referring to the Akhlaq and Junaid lynching cases, he said: “There is an environment of growing intolerance in the country. This country celebrates Ramzan and Diwali. Ramzan has Ram and Diwali has Ali. We have to launch a movement to save the social fabric.”
The Congress leader referred to chief minister Yogi Adityanath a few times, but there was no mention of the SP-BSP alliance in his 25-minute speech, suggesting that the party was in a direct contest with the BJP. Scindia held another public meeting in Dhaulana, where he reached two hours late. Here, too, he attacked the BJP government in UP and at the Centre. Scindia slammed the BJP over farmers’ issues and slack industrial development in Ghaziabad.
“The Congress brought an industrial revolution here. However, in the past five years, they not only failed to open industries, but also closed down existing ones,” he said. Scindia referred to women empowerment and said the Congress respected it with its decision to field Dolly Sharma from Ghaziabad.
Hitting out at Modi, Scindia said the country was made of “a 56-inch heart” and not “a 56-inch chest”. “Modi ji’s “acchhe din” is over and Rahul ji’s “sacchhe din” is coming.” Before Scindia arrived at the meeting venue, actress-turned-politician Nagma made a brief appearance and urged people to vote for Dolly Sharma.
(With inputs from Aditya Dev)
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