Journalism of Courage
Senior BJP leader and Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar on Tuesday hit back at the Congress after the party accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of spending crores on foreign tours and advertisements, but opposing the party’s anti-poverty scheme.
In a media briefing in Delhi on Tuesday, Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala had said that the “pro-rich” PM was opposing the “world’s biggest anti-poverty scheme”. “The Congress is scared of losing in the Lok Sabha elections. They are aware of the popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and that’s why they are making baseless claims via a press conference,” said Javadekar at a press conference in Pune after participating in a campaign rally in Kothrud.
The BJP leader said the Congress was “unnecessarily creating a hue and cry” over Modi’s foreign tours when his predecessor, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, also made an equal number of tours but “could not create the impact Modi did”. “There is no other candidate for Prime Minister other than Narendra Modi. The opposition does not have any leader as the candidate for the PM’s post,” said Javadekar.
The minister claimed that the Congress had started giving “false assurances”, as the party had been in power for 50 years but had “not even given Rs 12 to citizens”. “It was former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi who use to say that only Rs 15 of the Rs 100 allotted used to reach to the poor. It was due to Modi that the entire Rs 100 is reaching the poor directly in their bank accounts,” he said.
Javadekar said as per its commitment, the NDA government had initiated steps to bring back those businessmen who had left the country after committing financial fraud. “The Congress is scared that if these accused are brought back to the country, then they will spill the beans and expose it,” he said.
The BJP leader said the Congress had made “big announcements” about granting a loan waiver to farmers in Rajasthan and other states where it came to power, but had failed to implement it.
