Congress veteran P. Chidambaram on Saturday confronted Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has accused the Opposition of spreading lies, with three incontrovertible facts that could leave the government in an embarrassing position.
Chidambaram tweeted: “The Prime Minister has once again accused the Opposition of ‘spreading lies’. Here are three so-called lies that he may wish to comment upon:
1. The AIKSCC (All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee), which is coordinating the farmers’ protests, has said that farmers are selling paddy at Rs 900 per quintal though the MSP is Rs 1,870 per quintal. Is that a lie?”
The Congress leader added: “2. A Delhi court that acquitted Tablighi Jamaat members has said that it is probable that the accused ‘were picked up to maliciously prosecute them upon directions from the ministry of home affairs’. Is that a lie?
3. The CBI has contradicted Uttar Police police and charged four accused persons with gang rape and murder of the Hathras victim. Is that a lie?”
The Prime Minister has been claiming that his government has implemented the Swaminathan Commission recommendation of giving minimum support price (MSP), which is input cost plus 50 per cent, and citing instances where farmers have gained from the new farm laws.
Farmers’ unions have fiercely contested this, saying that the government was making a false claim by doing a wrong calculation — based on partial input cost instead of total input cost. They have also been saying that most of the items are getting sold far below the MSP.
While there is a unanimous view among the farmers that the Prime Minister’s claim of implementing the Swaminathan Commission recommendations was a lie, Chidambaram also said so through his question.
The second issue, about the Tablighi Jamaat being responsible for the initial spread of the coronavirus in India, is also an embarrassment for the government as senior ministers and BJP leaders had, with the help of sections of the media, launched a vicious propaganda campaign to malign a community. Now, various courts have rejected the allegation, absolving Tablighi Jamaat members of all charges.
The third claim, that the Hathras teen had not been raped, has also turned out to be a lie as the CBI has filed a chargesheet confirming gang rape. Along with the Uttar Pradesh police brass, many BJP leaders had propagated the no-rape narrative and made unsubstantiated allegations of an international conspiracy.
Modi had earlier accused the Opposition of spreading lies during demonetisation and the anti-CAA protests as well.
