Addressing a rally in Chhattisgarh, BJP President Amit Shah talked about the progress made by his government in the state and accused Congress President Rahul Gandhi and his party of spreading lies. The main issues Mr. Shah raised were of the SC/ST Act and the reservation for SC/ST and OBCs. He also accused Mr. Gandhi and his party that were in power for many years of doing nothing for either the country of Chhattisgarh. Let us look at a few facts, the kryptonite of the BJP.
First, Raman Singh from the BJP has been the Chief Minister in Chhattisgarh since 2003. Chhattisgarh only became a state in 2000, so essentially, the BJP has been ruling the state almost since it was created – almost 15 years. So what have they achieved? According to a World Bank report, Chhattisgarh has the highest poverty rate in the entire country; over 10 million people live in poverty. The state has seen slow growth and uneven performance by industry and even the rate of poverty reduction has been slower that other Low Income States. Apart from this consumption inequality has increased especially in urban areas.
Second, while it is fairly ironic that Mr. Shah is claiming that Rahul Gandhi fact checking the BJP is a lie, the truth still remains that the SC/ST Act has been diluted. Though the justification behind this dilution was to reduce the instances of fake cases, the sad truth is that in reality it just reduces the likelihood that the SC/ST community will see justice for crimes against them. Especially in cases of crimes against women, the requirement of the prior sanction will make it more difficult for women to come forward and report rapes and other violent crimes. As for reservation, several senior leaders of the BJP have at some point of another expressed that they are against reservation.
Thirdly, Mr. Shah said that while the Congress was in power in the Centre there was cross border firing at the LoC every other day. He also mentioned Mr. Modi’s surgical strikes. However, as one would expect from the BJP strongman, he forgot the facts. The instances of border incursions have increased substantially since the BJP took office. In fact, between China and Pakistan, our borders have not been this unsafe except during war time. It is also noteworthy that while Mr. Modi talks about being tough to our neighbours in reality he just flies over for several friendly and informal chats completely forgetting that our soldiers are being killed.
The veil the BJP placed over the nation’s eyes is slowly falling off. It is becoming increasingly evident that all the ruling party has managed to do is talk a big game, in reality our country has taken several steps backwards in every aspect. Our economic growth is slowing, employment is down, farmers are dying, crops are failing, women are being assaulted and the armed forces is not being given adequate funding. Lies and deceit appear to be the only thing the BJP is good at, the country deserves better.
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