Digvijaya Singh Criticizes BJP's Constitutional Ambitions and Farmer Policies

Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh accused BJP of attempting to change the Constitution and being anti-farmer. He lauded Congress' past contributions to development and criticized the BJP government for neglecting public welfare schemes like MGNREGA. Singh promises increased wages if Congress returns to power.

Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Saturday targeted the BJP over its slogan of winning more than 400 seats in the Lok Sabha polls, saying it indicated that the party was ''making a devious attempt to bring a new Constitution'' for the country.

Accusing the BJP government at the Centre of being ''anti-farmer'', he said PM Narendra Modi brought a constitution amendment bill in 2014 to ''weaken'' the land acquisition law that was brought in by the previous Congress-led dispensation.

Farmers were given ownership rights by the Congress which was why ''there was no bloody revolution'' in this country, Singh said at a press conference here.

Industries were set up in the country and the Congress brought different schemes that contributed to the development of the nation in every sector, he said.

Singh alleged the prime minister ignored the interests of the workers by opposing public welfare schemes like the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).

Migration from the Purvanchal and Bundelkhand regions had stopped because of MGNREGA, he claimed, adding that now the BJP government was not able to pay the wages of workers under the scheme. ''We promise that as soon as we come to power, MGNREGA wages will be made Rs 400 per day,'' Singh, the former chief minister of Madhya Pradesh said.

''The way BJP leaders and the prime minister himself are talking about winning more than 400 seats and the way many party MPs and leaders have expressed their intention of changing the Constitution, that in itself indicates why they need more than 400 seats,'' the senior Congress leader said.

''The BJP is making a devious attempt to bring a new Constitution in the country. Since 1950, the RSS has not fully accepted the Indian Constitution and even today, if we see the statement of Mohan Bhagwat, it questions the need for reservation,'' he said.

Singh said that the Congress functions based on the ideology of (Mahatma) Gandhi, (Jawaharlal) Nehru and (Ram Manohar) Lohia which talks about the welfare of farmers, labourers, small and medium traders and small industries.

Based on this, many laws, including the Zamindari Abolition Act, were introduced, the Congress leader said, adding that on the other hand, the Modi government has been working against public interest.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)