Atishi says 35 cr. Indians hungry; BJP accuses her of defaming nation

The Delhi BJP has hit out at Education Minister Atishi after she remarked at an event in London that 35 crore people in India are hungry.

A day after Delhi Education Minister Atishi said at an event that India has 35 crore hungry people at an event, Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva on Friday accused her of “defaming” the country on the global stage.

At the Cambridge India Conference in London on Thursday, Ms. Atishi said the number of hungry people in India grew from 19 crore in 2020 to 35 crore in 2022.

Hitting back, Mr. Sachdeva said, “The whole country wants to know where did Ms. Atishi get this figure of 35 crore hungry people. The leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party, who call themselves staunch patriots, have left no stone unturned to embarrass the country today.” No response was issued by AAP on the matter.

At Thursday’s event, Ms. Atishi said it is often highlighted that India has the largest number of growing billionaires, with the number increasing from 102 in 2020 to 166 in 2022. In contrast, another figure during this period is the number of hungry people in the country, which grew from 19 crores to 35 crores, she pointed. “This is alarming considering that India is the second-largest producer of food in the world. Despite this, it has the largest number of malnourished or undernourished people,” she added.

Speaking on the topic ‘Education — Building India’s Future at 100’, Ms. Atishi said that during her school days, her textbooks labelled India a ‘developing country’ and at that time the narrative was that India would become a ‘developed country’ by 2020. However, India still carries the tag of a ‘developing nation’, she added.

The Minister also lauded Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for bringing a major shift in politics in India, saying that it was for the first time in the country’s democratic history that parties have education and health as their top agenda.