Thiruvananthapuram: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Friday criticised the alleged marking of houses of BPL families by the BJP government in Rajasthan, saying it was "primitive and uncivilised".
"It is reminiscent of (German dictator) Adolf Hitler's step of pushing the minorities and Jews into separate blocs in the Nazi-occupied land," he said in a Facebook post.
Congress leader Ashok Gehlot had posted on his Twitter handle a local media report, which claimed that the Rajasthan government was marking the houses of below poverty line families with the words "I am poor and I take ration through the NFSA (National Food Security Act)". The tweet has triggered political mudslinging with the ruling BJP saying the previous Congress dispensation had started the practice.
Pinarayi Vijayan said the Rajashtan government "has divided the people" by marking their residences. "This step is primitive and uncivilised and will only trigger discontent among people," he said, adding this amounts to "assigning poverty to the poor and keeping them away".
Quoting media reports, he said the marking of the poor began in Dausa district was expected to expand to other parts of the state. PTI
Pinarayi also came down on the statement of Union minister Venkaia Naidu that loan waiver had become a "fashion". "Who is to find a solution?" he asked, referring to Naidu's remark that a permanent solution to the farmers' problems was needed rather than loan waiver. "Farmers availing loan, landing in debt due to inability to repay and committing suicide is not a fashion and it is also not a fashion to provide assistance to them," the chief minister said.
Attacking the Sangh Parivar, Vijayan alleged its agenda was to create a divide in the society and "marking the poor and calling loan waiver a fashion is all part of that agenda." PTI