Congress slams Narendra Modi's Mann Ki Baat address, says PM was silent over unemployment, fuel price hike

New Delhi: The Congress said on Sunday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s monthly radio programme ‘Mann Ki Baat’ was a “one-sided” communication in which he did not speak on important issues such as the police action on Banaras Hindu University (BHU) students, unemployment and high fuel prices. The Congress’s criticism came hours after Modi, in the 36th episode of his monthly address , said he has used the programme to reflect the views and aspirations of the people rather than expressing his own opinions. [caption id=“attachment_2439916” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Indian prime minister Narendra Modi. Image courtesy: PIB[/caption] “Over the last three years, we have continuously seen that ‘Mann Ki Baat’ is (a) one-sided communication exercise of the prime minister…He only does one-sided communication,” Congress spokesperson Ajoy Kumar told reporters. Kumar alleged that the prime minister did not speak on issues such as police action on students in the BHU campus on Saturday night, unemployment, high fuel prices, the “deteriorating situation” in Kashmir and border areas and incidents of sexual abuse of children. Terming the police action on students in BHU as “one of the most shameful incidents”, Kumar criticised the Centre and state governments for their alleged failure in maintaining law and order in the state. Kumar also raised doubts over the government’s “intention” in running the ‘Beti Bachao and Beti Padhao’ campaign, alleging that the fund allocated for the girl child in the last budget was very low. Kumar, however, welcomed External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj's address to the UN General Assembly on Saturday, saying she has “highlighted” India’s achievements in the past 60 years. “I would really request her (Swaraj) to give a coaching class to the prime minister who seems to never understand how much progress the country has made in the last 60 years,” he said. Referring to Modi’s appeal for buying Khadi products to help the poor, Kumar said the poor in the country are in distress due to high prices of pulses (daal), fuel, gas cylinder and unemployment. He urged the government to take measures to tackle these issues. On Modi asking countrymen to travel within the country to explore the diversity and richness of Indian culture, Kumar claimed that the highest number of tourists had visited Jammu and Kashmir during the UPA rule but there was a tremendous fall in their numbers since NDA came to power due to the trouble in Kashmir. Modi, during his programme, said he had kept ‘Mann Ki Baat’ away from politics and had tried to connect with the people without getting swayed by the (political) “heat” and “anger” that may prevail at any particular time.