The Congress on Thursday renewed its attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the BJP giving a Lok Sabha ticket to the son of incumbent MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who is facing charges of sexually harassing women wrestlers, and asked whether women ever be safe in "Modi's India".
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh posed questions to the prime minister ahead of his rallies in Uttar Pradesh.
"Will the Jaunpur medical college ever be completed? Why has the Gomti river been re-branded and not re-vived? Will women ever be safe in Modi's India?" Ramesh said.
Elaborating on what he said were "jumla details", Ramesh said the foundation stone of the Jaunpur medical college was laid by Akhilesh Yadav in 2015 but nine years later, it is still not complete.
It was meant to be completed in 2017 but when the BJP came to power in Uttar Pradesh, they chose not to prioritise this project, he alleged.
"Despite this, the half-functional college was 'inaugurated' by the outgoing PM and CM Yogi in October 2021. At the end of 2023, only 63% of the college's civil work had been completed and only the OPD was functional," he claimed.
"Why has the "Double-Engine" government broken down for this essential project? Will the Jaunpur medical college ever be fully functional?" Ramesh said.
He further said that despite the PM's claims of conserving the Gomti river under the National Mission for Clean Ganga, the river is suffering today.
"The BJP government in UP has flouted a number of environmental rules and court orders to hand over prime riverfront property to their friends. Rules prohibiting development within 250m of the river bank, changing the course of the river, and dumping waste in the river have all been shamelessly ignored," he said.
"They have also chosen to superficially 'beautify' the river instead of taking measures to preserve its long-term health. As a result of BJP neglect, experts say the river is now 'practically dead' -- these days, it is common for locals to find dead fish and stinky water where there were once thriving ecosystems. Why has the Modi Sarkar killed the Gomti river?" Ramesh said.
On the BJP giving a ticket to Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh's son, Ramesh alleged that the PM Modi has "once again failed India's daughters".
"Rather than punishing MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh for his heinous crimes, the BJP has rewarded him with a ticket for his son Karan Bhushan Singh, from the neighbouring Kaiserganj Lok Sabha seat," he said.
This has come as a slap in the face to all the women who put their careers at stake and slept on the streets for days, through sun and rain, in their fight for justice, he said.
"It has become clear that in 'Modi ka Parivar', Nari Shakti is just a slogan that is projected while the Parivar shelters perpetrators of sexual violence, be it Prajwal Revanna or Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. Will women ever be safe in Modi's India? Will the PM's hunger for power always be more important than the safety of India's daughters?" Ramesh said and asked the prime minister to break his "silence" on these issues.
A Delhi court last Friday had ordered framing of sexual harassment and other charges against BJP MP and former Wrestling Federation of India chief Singh in a case lodged by six female wrestlers, observing there was "sufficient evidence" against him.
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