Empty Ujwala Cylinders
The President of India inaugurated the world’s largest cricket stadium just a few days ago. The stadium which was earlier named after Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel has been renamed after Narendra Modi and this led to heated discussions on social media. In the midst of this, the price of gas cylinder that has been increased by Rs 25 at one go did not become news and the people’s anger against this did not go viral at all. About 75 per cent of the people of the country have nothing to do with the stadium as no food can be grown on it nor can the runs scored in cricket matches be used as fuel for cooking food or as manure for growing it.
Cricket is no longer a game these days. It is a huge industry. Those who play and those who make them play are making crores of rupees. In a country where about 80 per cent of people are suffering due to malnutrition, nothing can be achieved through this cricket stadium. Moreover, developed countries such as America and China have not given any importance to cricket. Such countries nurture other sports, win gold medals in Olympics, and attract the world’s attention. It is a crude joke that India that is completely destroyed by lockdown is inaugurating the world’s biggest cricket stadium. In a way, it is appropriate that the stadium has been renamed after Modi. It is actually conveying a message to the world about what is happening in a country like India that is grappling with hunger and where a Prime Minister renames a stadium after his name and celebrates this as a huge feat.
Around the same time, the price of cooking gas (gas cylinder) increased by Rs 25. In the month of February itself, the price of cooking gas increased by over Rs 100. The government that repeatedly talks about how it is providing cylinders to the poor under the ‘Ujwala’ programme has forgotten that gas stoves can’t be lit with empty cylinders as this hike in the price of gas cylinders also applies to the beneficiaries under the ‘Ujwala’ programme. It has already been exposed by the media that the Ujwala programme is bogus. In addition, by taking away the subsidy of the beneficiaries and increasing the price of cylinders, the government has made sure that gas stoves are not lit in the houses of the poor. The country might have to view the renaming of the stadium as a celebration of this by the Prime Minister.
Modi is behaving as though he has nothing to do with the frequent increase in the price of petrol and diesel, the manifold increase of the price of cylinder, and the daily increase in the prices of vegetables and groceries. He is trying to build a separate country for the 10 per cent of people. The world’s tallest statue, the world’s biggest cricket stadium, the bullet train, a park in the name of Shivaji, Ram Mandir in the name of religion are all for this small group of people. Experts are warning that the malnutrition level has touched 80 per cent. The protein intake has reduced substantially. The hands of farmers who were engaged in dairy farming have been tied with laws such as the Sale of Cattle Act. Indians have been stopped from eating beef but beef is being exported. While farmers find themselves on the streets due to the collapse of dairy farming, extensive efforts are being made to deprive the people of meat. In the midst of this, the rising fuel price has made people’s lives hell.
The government is deaf to the people’s anguish. If a demand for the reduction in the prices of petrol is made, the Prime Minister points blames the previous UPA Government for the price rise. The government is not willing to reduce the excise tax on crude oil even though it is well aware that this levy is responsible for the increase in fuel prices despite a fall in crude oil price at the international level. So far, all political parties were reluctant to take on the middle classes. But for the first time, a government is taking policy decisions that work against the poor and middle class and is trying to hoodwink them.
But now the entire country has turned against Modi’s economic policies. As an alternative to the world’s tallest statute and world’s biggest cricket stadium, the world’s largest farmers protest has been taking place in the country. The Prime Minister should understand that the world is evaluating India not through its stadium but through these protests. In this backdrop, the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) has called for a Bharat Bandh on Friday (February 26) against the fuel price hike and the injustice due to GST. About 40,000 trader organizations have extended their support to the bandh. Perhaps, support on such a scale was not extended in the past to a bandh call. The Modi government should consider this also as its achievement.
The country’s economy is already in doldrums due to the lockdown and this bandh would further leave an impact on the country’s economy. Now, lorry owners have threatened to stop transportation for an indefinite period. If that were to happen, shops would have to be temporarily shut in the absence of the supply of groceries and vegetables. People cannot be cheated for long by giving false assurances. By naming a cricket stadium after him, Modi will not earn an eternity in history. That will happen only by responding to the problems of the poor and the working class. If Modi’s close confidantes don’t educate him about this, there is a danger that his name would be permanently etched in history for destroying the country.
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Wayanad LS bypoll: Priyanka crosses lead achieved by Rahul in 2024 Lok Sabha polls
Wayanad (Kerala) (PTI): Top Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was on Saturday comfortably cruising towards her maiden electoral win from Wayanad in Kerala, as she surpassed the lead achieved by her brother Rahul Gandhi in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls earlier this year with party leaders and ally IUML predicting a big win for her amid the counting trends.
The Congress-led UDF's candidate from this hill constituency, Priyanka, extended her lead by over 3.8 lakh votes after five hours of counting of the ballots in the Wayanad Lok Sabha bypoll, according to the Election Commission.
Reacting to the lead achieved by Priyanka, Congress' ally Indian Union Muslim League and Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy said she would get more votes than her brother Rahul Gandhi in the Lok Sabha polls in April this year and will win by a record margin.
"An amazing first trend on counting day is the massive early lead for our leader @priyankagandhi ji in Wayanad, Kerala, by-election. People of Wayanad are surely going to record in victory margins today and Priyanka ji will make Parliamentary debut with a grand win," Reddy said in a post on 'X'.
IUML supremo Panakkad Sadiq Ali Shihab Thangal said that going by the trends, Priyanka will get more votes than what Rahul got and the majority she achieves would also be higher than that of her brother.
A similar view was expressed by IUML's national general secretary P K Kunhalikutty.
On the other hand, BJP leader Anil K Antony, earlier in the day, had claimed that though Priyanka has achieved a good lead, her victory margin would be less than what Rahul got in the 2024 and 2019 LS polls in the hill constituency.
According to the latest EC figures, Priyanka had a lead of 3,82,975 with 5,78,526 votes. LDF's Sathyan Mokeri was behind her with 1,95,551 votes and NDA's Navya Haridas was in the third spot with 1,04,947 votes.
Rahul had got 6,47,445 votes and won by a margin of 3,64,422 votes against his nearest rival, CPI's Annie Raja, in the LS polls this year. In 2019, he had got 7,06,367 votes and had won by a margin of 4,31,770 votes.
After winning from Rae Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh as well, in this year's polls, Rahul vacated the Wayanad seat, and the party nominated his sister Priyanka, paving the way for her electoral debut.
The bypoll turnout in Wayanad, which has over 14 lakh registered voters, was around 65 per cent, a decline from the close to 74 per cent in the LS polls held in April this year and much lower than the over 80 per cent turnout in the hill constituency in the 2019 general elections.
The counting of votes commenced at 8 am with postal ballots being taken up first.
The strong rooms, where the EVMs were kept, were opened more than an hour before counting began.
The bypoll for the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat was held on November 13.
Of the 16 candidates who contested, the main contenders are Priyanka, ruling CPI(M)-led LDF's Sathyan Mokeri, a political veteran, and BJP-headed NDA's Navya Haridas.
