Free ration leaving people with more food than they can consume: Rajnath Singh
Patna/Buxar/Karakat, May 29: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday claimed that under the free ration scheme, people were getting more foodgrains than they could consume and ending up selling the surplus in the market.
The former BJP president, who addressed four back-to-back rallies in Bihar, also lambasted the opposition for "false allegations" of price rise and joblessness, claiming that food, urea fertiliser and internet were "cheapest in the world" in India, where the unemployment rate was also lower than in the US and China.
Singh addressed the rallies, two in Karakat Lok Sabha constituency and one each in Buxar and Patna Sahib, seated in his chair, urging the people to excuse him since he had injured his leg at a recent election meeting.
"Are you not getting 5 kg of foodgrains each? I know if there are four members in a family, each is getting a supply of 5 kg and those who are not able to consume it, sell off the surplus," Singh said with a chuckle, breaking into the local dialect of Bhojpuri.
He also spoke of the Kisan Samman Yojana, saying the Rs 6,000 that the beneficiaries get would enable them to meet their expenses on tobacco, if not anything else.
"I do not mean we have done a favour by coming up with welfare measures, and building toilets and pucca houses. We, in the BJP, see politics as an opportunity to serve the people," he added.
"There is so much hullabaloo around price rise. I would like to tell you that food inflation in the country is the lowest in the world at 2.91 per cent. In the US, it is 7.79 per cent, 19 per cent in France, 8.5 per cent in Australia, 48 per cent in Pakistan and 21 per cent in Sri Lanka," he said.
Singh said it can be checked on the internet that the prices of urea fertilisers are the lowest in India, which also accounts for the highest number of digital transactions, "thanks to the availability of the cheapest internet connection in the world".
"Our opponents also keep complaining about unemployment. Our government has been promoting entrepreneurship through schemes such as Mudra Yojana. Our unemployment rate is lower than in so many developed countries like the US, China, France, Italy and South Africa," he claimed.
He also challenged the Congress and its ally RJD, to counter him on these facts, saying that "if there is a mistake, I will admit it since I have never tried to cheat people in my political career".
Singh also said that the BJP stood out among political parties for standing by its word, citing the examples of abrogation of Article 370, which was promised "way back in the 1970s by Jan Sangh" and the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya.
"It was at my instance that the Citizenship Amendment Bill was drafted since I was moved to see the living conditions of refugees from Pakistan and Bangladesh, who had fled these countries because of religious persecution. Later, when the NDA got sufficient numbers in Parliament, Amit Shah got the bill passed," said the former home minister.
He said the NDA was now aiming to implement a nationwide Uniform Civil Code, and slammed the opposition for promising freedom of personal laws, which was tantamount to "supporting practices like triple talaq that caused untold miseries to our sisters and daughters".
Singh mocked the Congress, claiming that it would soon be extinct like dinosaurs, and likened the RJD to a lantern, the party's poll symbol, of which the flame had grown unsteady since the oil was running dry.
Training his guns at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Singh said the "raajkumar" (prince) has admitted to the failings of successive governments of his party by stating that the "system" did not allow Dalits and OBCs to achieve success.
He said that under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India is on course to becoming the third largest economy in the world.
"Gone are the days when on international forums, we were taken casually. Now, when India speaks the world listens intently," he said.
"Pakistan does not dare to send terrorists anymore... Russia and Ukraine agreed to halt their war to enable the safe return of our students stranded there," he claimed.
Singh also said that after the elections, people should look forward to greater welfare measures from the Modi government, and remarked, "People from all social segments, if they are more than 70 years of age, will become eligible for free medical treatment under the Ayushman Bharat scheme. You never know, Modi may approve it in the first cabinet meeting itself."
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Iran offers to reopen Strait of Hormuz if US lifts its blockade and the war ends: officials
Cairo (AP): Iran has offered to end its chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for the US lifting its blockade on the country and an end to the war, while proposing that discussions on the larger question of its nuclear programme would come in a later phase, two regional officials said Monday.
US President Donald Trump seems unlikely to accept the offer, which was passed to the Americans by Pakistan and would leave unresolved the disagreements that led the US and Israel to go to war on February 28.
With a fragile ceasefire in place, the US and Iran are locked in a standoff over the strait, through which a fifth of the world's traded oil and gas passes in peacetime. The US blockade is designed to prevent Iran from selling its oil, depriving it of crucial revenue while also potentially creating a situation where Tehran has to shut off production because it has nowhere to store the oil.
The strait's closure, meanwhile, has put pressure on Trump, as oil and gasoline prices have skyrocketed ahead of crucial midterm elections, and it has pressured his Gulf allies, which use the waterway to export their oil and gas.
The closure has also had far-reaching effects throughout the world economy, raising the price of fertilizer, food and other basic goods.
The proposal would push off negotiations on Iran's nuclear programme to a later date. Trump said one of the major reasons he went to war was to deny Iran the ability to develop nuclear weapons.
The two officials, who had knowledge of the proposal, spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the closed-door negotiations between Iranian and Pakistani officials this weekend. The Axios news outlet first reported Iran's proposal.
It came as Iran's foreign minister visited Russia, which has long been a key backer of Tehran. It's unclear what, if any, assistance Moscow might offer now.
Strait of Hormuz remains blocked
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Iran's ability to choke off traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf, has proved one of its biggest strategic advantages in a war that has often boiled down to which side can take more pain.
Oil prices have risen steadily since the war began and tankers full of crude became stranded in the Persian Gulf, unable to safely transit through the strait and reach global distribution points.
On Monday, the spot price of Brent crude, the international standard, was trading at around $108 per barrel, nearly 50 per cent higher than when the war began.
Iranian foreign minister holds talks as negotiations with US stall
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Trump last week indefinitely extended the ceasefire the US and Iran agreed to on April 7 that has largely halted fighting. But a permanent settlement remains elusive in the war that has killed thousands of people.
Iran's state-run IRNA news agency said Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi landed in St. Petersburg on Monday morning ahead of a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“It is a good opportunity for us to consult with our Russian friends about the developments that have occurred in relation to the war during this period and what is happening now,” Araghchi said in a video interview posted by IRNA.
It comes as Pakistan has been seeking to revive stalled talks between Iran and the US, and negotiations had been expected in Islamabad over the weekend. Instead, Trump called off a trip by his envoys and suggested the talks could take place by phone instead.
Over the weekend, Araghchi made two stops in Pakistan and a visit to Oman, which shares the strait with Iran. He also spoke by phone with counterparts in Qatar and Saudi Arabia on Sunday.
Iran wants to persuade Oman to support a mechanism to collect tolls from vessels passing through the strait, according to a regional official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to discuss the matter.
Oman's response wasn't immediately clear.
The official, who is involved in mediation efforts, also said Iran insisted on ending the US blockade before new talks and that Pakistan-led mediators are trying to bridge significant gaps between the countries.
Trump says Iran has offered a much better proposal
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Trump told journalists Saturday that after he called off a trip by his envoys to Pakistan, Iran sent a “much better” proposal.
He did not elaborate but stressed that one of his conditions is that Iran “will not have a nuclear weapon”.
Iran insists its programme is peaceful, but the US wants to remove Tehran's stockpile of highly enriched uranium, which could be used to build a bomb, should Tehran choose to pursue one.
Since the war began, at least 3,375 people have been killed in Iran and at least 2,509 people in Lebanon, where fighting between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group resumed two days after the Iran war started. Another 23 people have been killed in Israel and more than a dozen in Gulf Arab states. Fifteen Israeli soldiers in Lebanon, 13 US service members in the region and six UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon have been killed.
The ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah has been extended by three weeks. Hezbollah has not participated in the Washington-brokered diplomacy.
