Rs 5,000 Farmer Aid Like Salt on Wounds, Says Sapkal
Maharashtra Congress president Harshwardhan Vasantrao Sapkal has accused the state and central governments of failing on multiple fronts, from the deteriorating law and order situation in Mumbai to the alleged misuse of citizens' data. Addressing the media on October 22, he also criticised the Diwali announcement of Rs 5,000 for farmers, calling it an insult to people already struggling with losses.
Sapkal said the government was trying to suppress the opposition and simultaneously eroding the privacy and democratic rights of citizens. He also demanded that the Enforcement Directorate take immediate action on the Rs 500 crore allegations made by Manoj Jarange Patil.
Addressing Union Home Minister Amit Shah's remarks, which accused Rahul Gandhi and the opposition of raising false vote theft charges to save infiltrators, Sapkal posed a direct question. He asked how many infiltrators had been identified in the past 12 years and how many had been deported from India. He insisted that the government must answer for its record and said such statements were a way to avoid questions that demanded concrete replies.
On the law and order front, Sapkal said public fear was growing, pointing to the case involving Lawrence Bishnoi and the upgrade of bulletproof glass for the security of film personalities. He said the situation in the state was worsening. He demanded that Bishnoi be transferred from a Gujarat prison to Arthur Road Jail in Mumbai, kept in an egg cell, and investigated in all cases linked to him.
Sapkal also hit back at Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla's remarks related to the debate over Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the impeachment motion. He claimed that when opposition members raise issues in Parliament, their microphones are muted and they are not allowed to speak. He said an impeachment motion against Gyanesh Kumar would be brought and challenged the government to record this in its books.
He further said a campaign was being run to damage the image of Rahul Gandhi, and that BJP MP Sambit Patra's comments on Gandhi's Vietnam visit were part of that campaign.
On the alleged SBI data breach, Sapkal said the matter could not be confined to the bank alone. He referred to allegations that Aadhaar data was shared under an agreement with the United States, and said questions were also being raised about the role of private companies in maintaining voter lists. Citizens' privacy, he stressed, is an important right, and the BJP government was facing charges of weakening it.
Sapkal called the detention of Tushar Gandhi, great-grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, while he was travelling to August Kranti Maidan, shameful. He said Tushar Gandhi was picked up from his home and described the action as an attack on democratic rights. Such events, he said, raise serious questions about democracy and the republic in India.
He concluded by expressing strong displeasure over the state government's decision to give farmers Rs 5,000 during Diwali. According to Sapkal, the amount does not address the real problems faced by farmers and amounts to rubbing salt into their wounds. He demanded accountability on all these issues from the government.