While the Gujarat Government chose to dismiss AAP’s convener Arvind Kejriwal’s claims of a large number of farmers’ suicide in the State as “falsehood” and an effort to “gain publicity”, the letter citing a Government data said the saffron party’s assertion that the State had been able to avoid farmer suicides is “shockingly tragic”.
“The BJP’s rebuttal claiming that Gujarat has made ‘excellent arrangement for infrastructure and inputs’ that have ‘been able to avoid farmer suicides’ is shockingly tragic and removed from the data available, AAP said in a Press release on Wednesday. AAP cited a National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data on farmer suicides and stated that this was the only authentic data for farmer suicides for the country and the party is keen to see the data on which (Narendra) Modi’s Government has based it’s claims. PTI
In a point by point rebuttal issued for the first time, the Gujarat government said the claims made by Kejriwal will have no effect on Modi’s popularity among citizens of this country. “...He is making bluffs following his political tradition. He might get some publicity but he will not be successful. People will give him a much-needed answer,” a Gujarat government statement said.
Reacting to the BJP government’s stand on gas pricing issue, AAP said the press release makes a vague claim that “the Standing Committee of Finance of Parliament headed by the BJP leader Yashwant Sinha has seriously questioned the Gas pricing policy and sought review of the same”, but says nothing about the the party’s position. “The Standing committee is that of the Parliament, not of the BJP. It also says nothing of the BJP’s Prime Ministerial nominee’s position on gas pricing. Neither does the BJP’s press release explain what “serious questioning of gas policy” really entails,” the statement said.
“Flying in the face of the falsehood of BJP’s press release is the letter from the Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation where Modi’s Govt clearly recommends a gas price formula which if you insert the current market price of Brent crude crosses 14 dollar which is even higher than what the UPA very generously recommends to favour Reliance,” the statement said. The logic of this formula is the same as the market value logic of the UPA - only higher, it added.