Amidst the controversy over Gujarat Government’s poverty yardstick, the Congress on Tuesday took a jibe at the Narendra Modi-led Government, questioning if only the poor were migrating to that State. The party also said it had exposed the real face of the BJP which has been speaking the “language of Shiv Sena”.
“ Gujarat Finance Minister Nitin Patel has justified the State’s BPl criteria of people earning below `10.80 a day and had put the blame for rise in poverty on migrant workers coming to Gujarat from Uttar Pradesh West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha. They are blaming migrant workers for poverty, who actually work for Gujarat’s development. This is the language of Shiv Sena and exposes the real face of Gujarat Government’s and the BJP. Rather than apologising, they are putting the blame on the migrants,” party spokesperson Shobha Oza said at AICC briefing.
The issue of migrants has always been rather sensitive in a number of states and it now appears that the Congress will rake it up in a big way in its poll campaign. Patel tried to justify it by saying, “If a BPl card holder’s family migrates to earn a living in Gujarat, he is included in the list. Apart from that, the population is also increasing due to which their number is increasing.”
AICC general secretary Shakeel Ahmad took potshots at Gujarat Government’s stand. “Modi’s govt says, poverty has increased in the last 10 yars due to the arrival of poor ppl from other states. Are poor ppl coming to Gujarat onlyIJ,” Ahmad said on Twitter.