Taking a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying that country’s fate cannot be changed only with tweeting, former Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) Students’ Union president Kanhaiya Kumar on Monday hailed Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik for distancing himself from the BJP.
Kanhaiya, a leader of the All India Student Federation (AISF), the student wing of the Communist Party of India (CPI), appreciated the BJD’s stand on the saffron party following the Kandhamal communal riots.
Addressing an ‘Ajaadi Samavesh’ here to mark the completion of 80 years of the AISF, he also praised Bihar Chief Minister Nitsh Kumar for having no tie with the BJP.
“Regional parties end ties with national parties for the sake of their States’ people, interest and dignity. The BJD snapped ties with the BJP after the Kandhamal riots as a message went outside that Christians were being targeted in Odisha,” said Kumar.
Maintaining that democratic right is to oppose and opposing a Government can’t be termed of being against the country, Kumar said. “The country has gone back to the pre-Independence years and we are being threatened to keep our mouths shut.”
The controversial student leader trained his guns at the BJP-led NDA Government at the Centre on a host of issues and slammed it for not fulfilling the promises it made to the people.
“The country is not made up of only 31 per cent of the electorates which voted for the NDA Government. This is democracy and one should not forget that the rest 69 per cent did not share your ideology,” said Kumar.
He also questioned the Modi Government as to when the rising inflation would come down.
“You had assured to provide two crore jobs; how many have you given till nowIJ When will inflation come downIJ Why unemployment has not reduced, and why there have been no concrete plans to eradicate illiteracy and ensure equality,” Kumar wanted to know. However, he said he had no personal enmity with Modi, but these are ideological differences.
During the programme a scuffle erupted between the police and ABVP activists who showed black
flags at Kanhaiya Kumar. Police detained a group of ABVP activists.