BJP demands food Bill debate

Rajnath asks why is UPA government in a hurry to implement it

Even as the UPA cleared the ordinance to implement the Food Security Bill on Thursday that would provide two-third of the nations population the right to 5 kg of foodgrain every month at highly subsidised rates,the BJP sought to know why the Centre was in such a hurry and demanded a debate on it before bringing it into force.

If the government could not bring the Food Security Bill in Parliament in the last eight years or so,why is it in such a hurry now when the monsoon session of Parliament is not far away? It is definitely a political gimmick, BJP president Rajnath Singh said in Guwahati.

Addressing a press conference,Singh said the BJP is not opposed to the Bill but added the Centre should have introduced it in Parliament instead of clearing an ordinance. There are several loopholes,and that exactly was why the BJP is demanding a debate on it, he said.

There are many loopholes in the Food Security Bill that the UPA government is so keen to implement through an ordinance. As such we want a full debate on the Bill in Parliament. The Bill should be passed only after effecting certain amendments to it, Singh said.

The BJP chief also described the Bill as a populist measure adopted by the Congress-led government. The intention is clear. It is a populist step taken in view of the forthcoming Lok Sabha election, Singh said.

Singh also attacked the Congress on the uncontrollable level that the countrys fiscal deficit and current account deficit had reached. Look at the growth rate of GDP under the Congress rule; it is now hovering around 5 per cent. When the NDA was in power it was 8.4 per cent. Given this situation,the investment environment has come to a close, Singh said.

Cong pit CBI,IB against each other in Ishrat case

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A day after the CBI filed a chargesheet stating that 19-year-old Ishrat Jahan was killed by Gujarat Police and Intelligence Bureau IB in a fake encounter,BJP president Rajnath Singh alleged that the Congress-led government had deliberately pitted the CBI and IB against each other for political benefits. There have been so many encounters in the country. The number of encounters to have taken place in the country before 2002 is more than 3,000. But it is only the Ishrat Jahan case that has been hyped for political benefits, Singh said. ENS