BJP city president reacts sharply to Congress district president’s statement; says beneficiaries have the right to express their happiness
Almora: BJP city president Vineet Bisht has strongly reacted to a statement by Congress district president Bhupendra Singh Bhoj, saying that Congress politics has become so frustrated that it now sees even a lamp lit outside a poor family’s home as publicity for Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Bisht said that lighting lamps outside the homes of beneficiaries of government schemes on the Prime Minister’s birthday was not a political programme imposed on anyone. According to him, it was an expression of happiness and faith among families who believe that government schemes have brought positive changes to their lives.
He said that if Congress was troubled even by the happiness of beneficiaries, it should apologise to the people. Bisht also questioned Congress over its repeated references to taxpayers’ money, asking why, despite being in power for decades, it had not created a system to ensure that welfare schemes reached the last beneficiary with the same speed and transparency that he claimed were visible today.
Bisht said that government budgets are funded by public money, but ensuring that the money is used effectively is the responsibility of the government. He referred to housing, sanitation, women’s self-employment initiatives and other welfare schemes while arguing that beneficiaries were now receiving direct benefits.
The BJP leader said that beneficiaries were not the property of any political party but independent citizens. If a woman feels happy after becoming a Lakhpati Didi, a family wants to thank the Prime Minister after receiving a permanent house, or a young person celebrates after getting employment, Congress cannot decide how they should express their happiness, he said.
Bisht further questioned whether Congress also considered the happiness of poor families receiving permanent houses, women becoming self-reliant through self-help groups and other beneficiaries as political publicity.
He said Congress was not troubled by the lamp itself but by the light that, according to him, was exposing its political weaknesses before the public. He added that threats of agitation would not change the situation on the ground because voters were now looking at results rather than speeches.
Bisht advised Congress leaders to move beyond what he described as “the politics of extinguishing lamps” and visit families that had benefited from government schemes. He said the happiness of poor families should not be viewed as political publicity but as evidence of good governance.
