JOIN USMLC Ivan D’Souza has called Narendra Modi a ‘camera projection prime minister’.
The legislator was addressing reporters at the Congress Bhavan on Monday.
“All the garbage would have been cleared on learning that the prime minister is going for a walk on the beach. Unfortunately, Modi enacted a drama by picking up the garbage before the camera at a beach at Mamallapuram. Prime Minister Modi is busy projecting himself to the world, instead of projecting the country,” said D’Souza.
He accused the prime minister of not responding to the demands from Karnataka. “Modi failed to visit Karnataka when we were facing devastation in the recent floods,” the legislator added. “The Centre even failed to release the compensation. The home minister and finance minister made an aerial survey of the flood-affected areas and conducted a ‘jolly trip’. The prime minister did not even conduct a ‘jolly trip’,” D’Souza mocked.
Stating that the state government has failed to take up flood relief work, D’Souza said, “We had sought the Central government to declare the recent flood in the state as a national disaster. However, it was not accepted by the Centre due to lapse on the part of the state government. Farmers will be forced to commit suicide if they are not compensated on the Kodagu model, which was initiated by the coalition government. The state government has utterly failed in convincing the Central government on the flood damages and getting relief.”
Speaking further, he said, “The prime minister should respond to the woes of the people. Instead of having tender coconut water with Chinese President Xi Jinping, he should have discussed the Doklam border, terrorism and the economic slowdown issues.”
He came down heavily on the move of the state government to prohibit private television channels from recording the proceedings of the Legislature session and said that the friction between the RSS and the BJP is the reason for the Speaker’s move to prohibit the recording.
“Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa has stated that he will not oppose media using cameras inside the Vidhan Soudha. But, Speaker Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri has banned private channels from recording the proceedings. Yediyurappa is from the BJP and the Speaker represents the RSS. The government has no desire to redress the grievances of the people. Even the Supreme Court has approved live-streaming of court proceedings. Then, why do people of Karnataka have no right to see what their elected representatives are doing in the Legislature sessions,” he asked.