Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Venkaiah Naidu accused the ruling-Congress party of covering its economic and social failures by trying to divert the attention of the people to the freshly released poverty figures.
According to the data released earlier in the week by the Planning Commission, the poverty ratio has declined to 21.9 percent in the year 2011-12 from 37.2 percent in 2004-05."This is a ploy by the ruling party to divert the attention of the people from the massive failures, particularly on the economic and social front. All the reports, including World Bank studies are revealing that India is far behind in human development indexes visa-vise Bangladesh and, sometimes, even Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Burma and ofcourse China. If that's being the case, how can you claim that poverty has come down considerably? What is the basis?" Naidu asked here today.
Speaking to media persons, Naidu also said that living does not only mean eating food for survival but also entailed acquiring shelter, clothing, the minimum education and access to critical services with regard to health. "All these parameters are also taken into consideration before deciding the poverty level", Naidu added.
Naidu also took the opportunity to take a jibe at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, demanding answers from him with regard to the methodology that was involved to arrive at the new figures."The government should explain this because the Chairman of the Planning Commission is the honorable Prime Minster of India. They should explain" Naidu said.
Commenting on the Food Security Bill, Naidu said that the Congress was filled with contradictions if on one hand it wants to bring in a bill to feed 67% of the population, when apparently only 21 percent of the people are living under the poverty line.
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Naidu said, " They need to explain how do you marry these two figures? This is a cheap propaganda before the election. Unfortunately, it has been indulged in by the Planning Commission at the behest of the Congress party."
Naidu termed the Congress spokespersons claims of being able to eat at low prices as "stupid and idiotic statements", saying that they have no idea about the ground realities.
He warned the ruling party saying, "The people are not going to be deceived. They are waiting for an opportunity to teach you a fitting lesson. Day by day the anger against the UPA government is growing in the people."
According to a recent World Bank report, India has 33 percent of the world's poorest 1.2 billion people, even though the country's poverty rate is half as high as it was three decades ago.
