BJP bent upon maligning image of Congress states: Ministers

Health and Family Welfare Minister Dhani Ram Shandil and Revenue Minister Jagat Singh Negi lashed out at BJP leaders and said that the BJP was making desperate attempts to malign the image of the Congress-ruled states by making false accusations in order to woo voters during the upcoming Assembly elections in Maharashtra.

In a joint statement issued by the ministers, they said the statements made by BJP leaders during an election rally in Maharashtra were baseless and far from truth. The ministers said there was not a single charge of corruption on the state government in its two-year tenure. “The Centre controls the law enforcement agencies and if this would have been a case, the centre would have taken an action against our government,” they said.

“Elections should be contested on the issues of development rather than on image tarnishing by making false statements,” they added.

The ministers further stated that the state and Central BJP leaders have much to answer about the promises made during the Lok Sabha elections. “The BJP came to power by promising 2 crore employment opportunities per year to the youth of the country and had also claimed to transfer 15-15 lakh in the account of all the people of the country,” said the ministers, adding that the BJP is now silent on such matters.

“The BJP has attained power on the basis of unfulfilled promises and anger against the Centre is visible among all sections of the society. The inflation is sky-high and the prices of daily use items like cylinder and edible products are going beyond reach of a common person,” they added.

Targeting the BJP over electoral bonds, they said that BJP has received Rs 6,060 crore through electoral bonds. “The electoral bonds have been declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court and the BJP should look within before accusing others,” they stated.

“Since the BJP has come to power at the Centre, they have been continuously working to topple opposition government. Arunachal was first where the Congress government was toppled. Congress was the largest party in Manipur and Goa, but the BJP formed the government through unfair means. Maharashtra saw the BJP leaders take oath late at night to claim formation of government despite not enjoying majority. Similarly, the government in MP was unsettled through Operation Lotus. Central agencies like the ED, CBI and IT were being used to pressure and threaten opposition leaders and workers” said the ministers.