PM’s J&K policy giving Pak a chance to misbehave: Rahul
NEW DELHI : Narendra Modi’s policy has created space in Jammu and Kashmir for Pakistan to “misbehave”, said Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday, a day after the Prime Minister said the problem in Kashmir can be resolved by embracing the people not through bullets and abuses.
Gandhi was in Bengaluru to inaugurate Indira Canteen, the Karnataka government’s subsidised outlets that will provide breakfast at ₹5 and lunch and dinner at ₹10.
The Prime Minister represents the spirit of the people of India, and it is time Narendra Modi starts “acting and operating” like a PM, said Gandhi at a rally here, adding Modi has created an “environment” of hatred and anger in Jammu and Kashmir.
Apparently taking the cue from the popular ‘Amma canteens’ in Tamil Nadu, introduced by former chief minister Jayalalithaa, the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government had announced setting up of the canteens in the state budget for 20172018.
Initially referred to as ‘Namma Canteen’, the name was later changed to ‘Indira Canteen’ as Congress legislators sought to give a political touch to the populist announcement ahead of the Assembly polls early next year by naming it after former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
An amount of ₹100 crore was provided in the budget to set up the canteens in 198 wards of Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP).
Congratulating the state government for the canteen, Gandhi said it is designed to make sure that not a single person in Bengaluru goes hungry.
Calling the world an “unfair place”, the Congress vice president, who also had a lunch at the canteen, said it is targeted at the working class like construction workers and auto rickshaw drivers. “There are many people in this city who live in huge houses and have plenty of food, who drive in big cars and for them food is not a big issue..but there are millions of people in Bengaluru like construction workers, those who own small shops, autorickshaw or taxi drivers, barbers and people who don’t get that much money, and it is those people at whom this Indira Canteen is targeted,” he said. “We want the people from poorest and weakest sections in Bengaluru to feel that they will no have to stay hungry in this city. There cannot be a single minute where a poor person in Bengaluru is hungry. We want every single person to know and understand that,” he added.