Joshi flays Modi for silence on Vyapam scam, price rise

ALLAHABAD: Former UPCC chief and national spokesperson of Congress Rita Bahuguna Joshi said on Friday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was clicking selfies instead of answering questions on Vyapam scam and inflation. His silence on these issues is baffling, she said.
Joshi came down heavily on Modi over black money and also questioned why he was silent on controversies dogging BJP chief ministers of Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan."Why the PM is silent on issues of government land being converted into a hotel in Rajasthan or 47 persons losing their lives in Madhya Pradesh in Vyapam scam," said Joshi who was in the city on a two-day visit to review preparations for party's July 22 nationwide protest against the NDA government.
"Modi must think about the people of the country at a time when prices of pulses and vegetables have gone up by 30% to 50%," she said adding, "The NDA government is good at making declarations but fails when it comes to implementation. With the NDA government coming to power, export has gone down substantially and there has been a sharp depreciation in the value of rupee."
She said that her party would hold demonstrations in every district of the country on July 22 to expose the Union government and its policies.
Summing up the performance of NDA government's first year in power, Joshi said, "It has been more inclined in benefitting a small section of capitalists at the expense of the common man. Till date, the PM had not called any meeting to tackle inflation or strengthening the economy."
"Instead of taking care of farmers, the Union government is more interested in the land acquisition bill. The fact is that Modi had not visited any village of his constituency in Varanasi to know about the sufferings of farmers, who faced heavy losses due to inclement weather recently," she charged.
She claimed that the Union government had not provided funds to farmers and hardly 10% of them have received cheques of aid. "Compensation worth around Rs 160 crore should have been distributed among the farmers in Allahabad alone, but till date only 20% of the amount has been distributed," she said.
She also said that Prime Minister should make his agenda clear as he has decided to attend 2016 Saarc summit to be held in Pakistan. He must contemplate about the outcome of his visit. PM should also speak about his foreign policy as well, she added.
Joshi asserted that there have been a rise in infiltration in J & K. Instead of tackling it seriously, the scene is that all separatist leaders are coming on a common platform and state government, where BJP is an ally, has no agenda to tackle them.