New Delhi: Dubbing Congress as a party of
"capitalists and middlemen", BJP chief Nitin Gadkari on Friday
ridiculed the Planning Commission`s Rs 32 per day poverty cap
and asked the Prime Minister and Congress chief to "show the
way" by living on the meagre amount for a day.
He accused the UPA Government of not focusing on issues
related to 44 crore poor people in the country, especially
labourers who have no shelter and food.
"I want to ask Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress
chief Sonia Gandhi what have they done for the poor. They
keeping talking about uplift of under-privileged but nothing
happens on the ground. The Planning Commission says that
persons consuming items worth more than Rs 32 per day in urban
areas are not poor," he said.
He was addressing a rally organised by the Bharatiya
Janata Mazdoor Mahasangh here demanding BPL status for all
labourers in the country.
"Can anyone live with Rs 32 in a city and Rs 26 in rural
areas? With the inflation increasing day by day, people are
not able to eat even one meal a day. Rahul Gandhi, Sonia
Gandhi and Manmohan Singh should show the way how to live in
that meagre amount," he said.
Alleging that Congress was responsible for the 2G spectrum
scam, he said: "It is not a party of poor, it is a party of
capitalists and middlemen. They don`t fight for the poor."
Referring to Supreme Court`s order on free distribution of
foodgrains to the poor instead of allowing it to rot in
godowns, he said a government which questions the court`s
direction cannot claim to fight for the rights of poor people.
After uproar over the BPL cap, the Planning Commission had
said that a new methodology will be worked out to determine
entitlements of beneficiaries under various schemes for poor.
Gadkari said there is no place for corrupt in the BJP and
that people who "come to politics to earn money" can leave the
party "today instead of tomorrow".
The BJP demanded that all labourers in the country should
be brought under the Below Poverty Line category and should be
eligible for medical insurance.
"Government servants are eligible for medical insurance.
IAS officers are eligible for medical insurance. MP and MLAs
are also eligible. Why not the poor? Don`t the poor have the
right to get proper treatment?" he asked.
The BJP chief also alleged that ESI hospitals in most
states are in a "bad condition" and they are not equipped to
treat patients.
He also said if the BJP came back to power it will ensure
that poor are taken care of in a better way and that their
children get admission in professional courses.
PTI
