Rs 500 for cinema ticket, Rs 5 to hear Narendra Modi: Congress

Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari took a dig at the Bharatiya Janata Party for charging Rs 5 to attend Narendra Modi`s rally in Hyderabad.

Zee Media Bureau

New Delhi: Taking a dig at the Bharatiya Janata Party for charging Rs 5 as entry fee for Narendra Modi`s rally in Hyderabad, Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari on Tuesday taunted that the price of the ticket "discovers true value" (of the leader). On Twitter, Tewari remarked: "Baba Pravachan Ticket Rs 100-100,000Cinema ticket Rs 200-500 even for box office flop Ticket to hear` a` CM Rs 5 Market discovers true value(sic)." "BJP`s listening Tax Rs 5maybe market discovery price What would be speaking Tax imposed on 1.2 billion? Monitising democracy/ pure fascism!(sic)," he added. Later, Tewari told a news agency that the BJP`s stunt shows the party will "now impose a listening tax", asking, "is this a precursor to Fascism?" Interestingly, the BJP has announced that it plans to donate the money raised from Modi’s Hyderabad rally to help in the relief and rehabilitation of Uttarakhand floods victims. The news has not gone down well with other political parties as well. Janata Dal-United (JD-U) leader Ali Anwar told a news agency that the BJP wants to show Modi is a superstar, and people are even buying Rs 5 ticket to attend rallies. The BJP, however, clarified its stand, saying that while other parties pay big money to ensure large gatherings for their rallies, Modi is such a huge political force who can alone pull a large number of people despite an entry free. "Other parties ferry people for their public meetings. The idea of collecting the nominal amount is to encourage seriousness and commitment. We will contribute the collected amount towards Uttarakhand relief," state BJP spokesman N Ramachandra Rao had told reporters on Monday. And, keeping in mind Modi`s following in the virtual world, the registration can be done online. The registration process began recently and will continue till August 10. The Lal Bahadur Stadium in central Hyderabad is the venue for the meeting and the target is to mobilise one lakh people in the age group of 18-40, Rao said. BJP aims to reach out to the large crowd of IT professionals and college students in the tech-savvy Andhra Pradesh capital, he said. About 40,000 people have already registered and the party hopes that it will go up to at least 70,000, Rao said.