Patna, Sep 19 (PTI) Hailing Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union minister Giriraj Singh on Saturday said that under the leadership of the ‘karma yogi’, “millions” of people were employed and the share of those living in poverty has dropped to “around 3 per cent”.
Singh, the minister for textiles, was speaking to journalists in Patna after attending, through virtual mode, the latest edition of the PM Rozgar Mela.
“Under ‘karma yogi’ Prime Minister Narendra Modi, we have reached a stage where there are about 35 crore EPFO members. Those who whine about unemployment should check these numbers for themselves,” the Begusarai MP said.
“Under Modi, we have moved beyond the stage where government jobs were deemed to be the only source of employment. Today, there are about 2.5 lakh start-ups which employ millions of young people. The Congress, which was in power earlier, failed to bring such a revolution,” he claimed.
Singh said crores of people have been brought out of the clutches of poverty since Modi took over, with the share of people living in poverty dropping to around 3 per cent from 21.
“The growing strength of India can also be seen in long queues of buyers outside mobile phone stores whenever a new iPhone model is launched. In contrast, people in neighbouring Pakistan are struggling with scarcity of even food. In our country, the number of cars and motorcycles being purchased has grown exponentially,” he said.
The Union minister also took a swipe at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who has been carrying out a ‘Chhatron Ki Goonj’ programme across the country to galvanise the youth on the issue of exam paper leaks.
“What had he been doing when his party was in power? Unlike Modi, who connects with the people spontaneously, Rahul Gandhi reads out aloud from a written script. He is now the leader of the opposition, but when he got the opportunity to do something, he wasted time, tearing away legislation inside Parliament,” he said.
The allusion was to an infamous incident of 2013, when Gandhi tore the draft of an ordinance at a press conference.
The Congress leader’s rhetoric was in response to journalists questioning the appropriateness of the ordinance, which had sought to protect convicted lawmakers from automatic disqualification pending an appeal.
The ordinance, brought in weeks ahead of the conviction, in a fodder scam case, of RJD president Lalu Prasad, a key UPA partner, had been described as “complete nonsense” by Gandhi.
The episode is often raked up by the BJP in an attempt to drive a wedge between the Congress and the RJD, which have remained allies in Bihar for nearly three decades. PTI NAC SOM
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