Piyush Goyal On Congress’ “Rs. 17 A Day” Remark, Rahul Gandhi Says Farmers Insulted
NEW DELHI : Congress chief Rahul Gandhi today said “surgical strikes” — one after the other — will be launched on the Narendra Modi government in the coming days by his party. Hinting at the issues on which the “surgical strikes” will be held, he said the biggest one facing the country was joblessness and the government has “failed completely” to address it.The term “surgical strike” has been a running theme through the day, with NDA allies calling the budget a strike on the opposition.
Welcoming the interim budget this morning, BJP ally Ram Vilas Paswan said it was the “second surgical strike”.”The first one was on the border with bullets. This is the second one, as we are going into the 2019 polls with ballots. We will win with two-thirds majority,A strong response came from senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor. “The so-called surgical strike in Pakistan did not prevent any of the bad things that have continued from there. If they (the NDA) call this a surgical strike, then we are anticipating failure in advance,” Mr Tharoor told . At a press conference in the evening, Rahul Gandhi gave his take on the issue — that “there will be one surgical strike after another on the Modi government in the coming days”.
The Congress chief told the media that the Rs. 6,000 yearly cash for farmers was a pittance. “You can waive Rs. 3.5 lakh crore loan of 15 people, but give only Rs. 17 per day to farmers. What else is this if not an insult?”The Congress, Mr Gandhi said, would contest the elections on the issues concerning farmers, unemployment and attacks on institutions. “It will also be on the issue of Rafale,” he added. The Congress said its detailed criticism of the budget will come tomorrow after it gets a chance to study the figures. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said the budget is a “trailer” for what is to come after the Lok Sabha elections.
Meanwhile, As the Congress continues to criticise the centre’s pro-farmers measures, including an annual income support of Rs. 6,000 for small farmers announced today in the Interim Budget, Union Minister Piyush Goyal defended the scheme saying “naamdaars will never understand how it will benefit farmers”.”Farmers will get Rs. 6,000 every year, not just for a year. This scheme will bring a huge change in their lives. The rich and the naamdaars won’t understand this. Goyel, who presented the last budget of the BJP-led government today, said.
Piyush Goyal said farm returns had reduced because of the declining prices of agriculture commodities in the international markets and a fall in food inflation in India in the last two years relative to the non-food sector.The farmer scheme, called PM-Kisan or ”Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi”, aims at benefitting small and marginal farmers, who own less than five acres of land. Each one of them will receive direct annual handouts of around Rs. 6,000 in three instalments, at a cost of Rs. 75,000 crore to the government, Mr Goyal said in the Lok Sabha.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi described PM Kisan Nidhi as a “historic step” for farmer welfare. “The budget will empower the poor, give a boost to the farmer and an impetus to the economic growth,” he said. However, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi said Rs. 6,000 in a year works out to Rs. 17 a day, which is “an insult” to farmers. (With Agency Inputs ).
