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Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (DV)
Mangaluru, Dec 19: Senior Congress leader Janardhan Poojary on Saturday December 19 hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and accused him of creating 'lawlessness' in the country. He also termed finance minister Arun Jaitley as the 'Suresh Kalmady of BJP' in reference to the DDCA corruption row.
Addressing a press meet at the district Congress office here, Poojary referred to the recent raid by CBI on the Delhi secretriate and said, "Modi is creating lawlessness in the country. Incidents which had not taken place in the past are happening now. The PM is trying to destablize the Delhi government by using the CBI to raid the office of the chief minister and also taking law into his hands.
"If the PM is so sincere, he should make public the search warrant issued by the court to search the Delhi CM's office. I am charging the PM with taking law into his hands. He (Modi) is indulging in hate politics. He may be the PM, but he is not above the law," Poojary said.
"The Delhi CM (Arvind Kejriwal) alleged that finance minister Arun Jaitley was involved in irregularities when he was the chief of the Delhi Cricket Association. It is a serious charge, but Arun Jaitley denied the allegations and termed them as lies," he added.
Comparing Arun Jaitley to Suresh Kalmady who was accused of corruption in the Commonwealth Games scam, Poojary said, "Arun Jaitley is the Suresh Kalmady of BJP. What is the difference between Suresh Kalmady and Arun Jaitley? If you (Modi) are sincere, you should have filed a case against the finance minister. Why is there no case against Jaitley?"
On the National Herald case, he said, "You (Modi) made Subramanian Swamy reopen the case. National Herald is of Congress. Jawaharlal Nehru started it to promote Congress ideology. Modi is an autocrat who is attacking the freedom of the press and trying to curb freedom of expression. Prior to the elections I had warned that Modi was a Hitler, and now this truth is coming out. Learn from A B Vajpayee and listen to L K Advani."
Regarding the statement by railway minister Suresh Prabhu on the death of a baby allegedly during a demolition drive by the railways, Poojary said, "Suresh Prabhu told a lie in the parliament that the child had died earlier and not during the demolition drive. If I had been in the parliament, I would have moved a privilege motion against him."
On the parliament logjam, he said,"BJP is not allowing the parliament to function. There is lawlessness. When you are in the administration you should be a role model to others. Do you (BJP) want the opposition to become silent spectators?"
On the release of the youngest convict in the Nirbhaya gang-rape case, he said, "It is brutal injustice. When UPA was in power, it amended the Juvenile Justice Act so that those between 16 to 18 years can be tried as adults in heinous crimes. The bill is stuck in the Rajya Sabha, but there is still time to pass this law on Monday December 21.
Commenting on the state government's plans to make liquor available at cheaper prices and chief minister Siddaramaiah's statement that bars should be proportionate to population, Poojary said, "The CM should not do that. We cannot do whatever we want just for money. Alcohol spoils peace in homes."
Former mayor Mahabala Marla, T K Sudheer and others were present.