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Under fire from not just the opposition but all; and sundry over absurd claims by its Congress leaders -- that one can get meals in “Rs 5 and Rs 12” in Delhi and Mumbai respectively -- the Congress Communication chief Ajay Maken today tweeted “We do not agree with Rs 15 & Rs 5 statement of some leaders.”
The Congress was lambasted for these insensitive statements and was the butt of jokes not just on Twitter and television but on the streets as well. The common man had been outraged at this ‘cruel joke’; hence the need for Congress to clarify.
The Congress was lambasted for these insensitive statements and was the butt of jokes not just on Twitter and television but on the streets as well. The common man had been outraged at this ‘cruel joke’; hence the need for Congress to clarify.
After Congress spokesperson Raj Babbar tried to defend the Rs 33 poverty line that was in the line of fire from the Opposition as being unrealistic, Babbar had claimed that one can eat a full meal for Rs 12 in Mumbai. His colleague from Delhi, Rasheed Masood bettered that statement adding that one can still get meals inRs 5 in Jama Masjid area. The Opposition including JD(U)’s Nitish Kumar ripped apart the Congress specious claims.
Maken who took to his Twitter handle @ajaymaken to clear the air then went onto target the Opposition for fault finding with the UPA. “Unlike the BJP NDA, we have de-linked this poverty line from all 150 Central Govt schemes including NREGA, ICDS, MDM, NRHM, SSA, PDS except 1”. This was the pension scheme. The BJP had speculated that Congress was indulging in political games to reduce the number of beneficiaries in central schemes.
Training his attack on the BJP, Maken reiterated “BJP criticizing Rs 33.30 Poverty Line should explain why it was Rs 16.73 in 59th NSSO survey of 2003 and accepted by BJP/NDA Govt?” He added, “NSSO survey-1993-94 to 2004-05 the avg. decline in poverty was 0.74% /year. During UPA it accelerated three times to 2.18% pts per year.”
The Congress led UPA has been laying claim to bringing down poverty levels in the country during its nine year tenure from 37 per cent to 22 per cent from 2004 to 2009.
