BJP trying to create smokescreen with unrealistic development offers: Shreyams Kumar

RJD State president criticizes BJP's smokescreen of unrealistic development offers ahead of general elections, highlighting economic disparities and social unrest.

Kozhikode

Even as the country is facing a huge threat against secularism and a considerable drop in various growth indexes, the Prime Minister and the Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) are creating a smokescreen with unrealistic development offers in view of the general elections, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) State president M.V. Shreyams Kumar has said.

Addressing an interactive session with journalists at the Calicut Press Club here on Monday, Mr. Kumar alleged that the country failed to witness any satisfactory growth in its per capita income, employment opportunities, and human development index compared to other nations amid attempts by the BJP to hide the ground realities.

“India’s position in the Global Hunger Index and Human Development Index are lower than that of many other undeveloped countries. Out of 180 countries, India’s place in the World Press Freedom Index has slipped to 161,” said Mr. Kumar while pinpointing the “increasing economic disparity” and the widening gap between the rich and the poor.

Coming down on the Union government for its “poor farmer friendly” policies, the RJD leader said farmers in the country were heading to a big crisis unable to meet even the basic production expenses in the agriculture sector. He alleged that the BJP which was interested only in greeting farmers with rubber bullets was challenging the whole democratic system in the country creating rooms for social unrest.

Mr. Kumar also claimed that the BJP was engaged in “political horse-trading” by facing the general elections by fielding around 28% of its candidates who came from other parties. “In Kerala too, there are three such candidates,” he said, pointing out that the INDIA Bloc with multi-party political alliance wanted to uphold supreme ideals other than focusing on a particular individual.

On Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s statement that the Central agencies were desisting from taking action against Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Mr. Kumar said the Congress leader made the remark out of his immaturity. “He might have failed to study the issues properly ahead of making such comments,” said Mr. Kumar.