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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Right to vote under threat, must be made fundamental right: Cong's Jairam Ramesh
New Delhi (PTI): Congress leader Jairam Ramesh alleged on Thursday that the right to vote is under threat and the time has come when it should be made a fundamental right for citizens.
Speaking with reporters, Ramesh lashed out at Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, saying the Election Commission (EC) has never been as compromised as it has been under him.
"The rot started under his predecessor. This man is a player and not a neutral observer," the Congress leader said, slamming Kumar.
Kumar is completely compromised and has become a player in elections, he alleged.
"Home Minister Amit Shah had talked about three Ds -- detect, delete and deport. So we want to know how many non-Indian citizens have been detected, how many have been deleted and how many have been deported," Ramesh said, adding that the right to vote is now under threat.
On opposition parties submitting a fresh notice in the Rajya Sabha, seeking to move a motion for the CEC's removal, the Congress leader said they will continue to make efforts for Kumar's removal as he is "compromised".
Ramesh also batted for the right to vote to be recognised as a fundamental right.
"I believe that the time has come that the right to vote should be made a fundamental right. It is a statutory right, it is not a fundamental right. Fundamental rights are justiciable," he said.
The former Union minister said this was discussed in the Constituent Assembly, but it was eventually decided that it should be made part of the Constitution.
B R Ambedkar and Jagjivan Ram had warned that in the future, governments might try to disenfranchise voters, he added.
"Once and for all, include the right to vote as a fundamental right for Indian citizens," Ramesh asserted.
