Modi should have spoken on BHU violence, other problems of common man: Congress

New Delhi, Sep 24 : Terming Prime Minister Narendra Modi's radio address 'Mann Ki Baat' a "one-sided exercise", the Congress on Sunday said he should have spoken on police baton-charge on BHU girl students and journalists and police misbehaviour with protesters.

The party also urged Modi to reach out to the people, reeling under inflation, unemployment, and constant attacks on women and children, understand their problems and speak on these issues.

It also attacked BJP government in Uttar Pradesh for the baton-charge at BHU saying this reflects the mentality of the BJP and RSS.

"What happened in BHU is a continuous reflection of what BJP stands for. They believe in attacking and harassing students, women and journalists. 

"In BHU, students who are girls face a lot of discrimination. There are a lot of restrictions on them. This is the true picture of BJP. This is the ideology of BJP and RSS and PM belongs to the same ideology," said Congress spokesperson Ajoy Kumar.

"The PM talks about Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao. We would like to ask the prime minister that the budget they presented last year, there is an allocation of Rs 1 and 20 paise on each girl annually, which comes to 10 paise per month. Every girl should be protected from the BJP, that's all I can say," he added.

"In three years, we have seen that this ('Mann ki Baat') is a one-sided exercise. This is the first Prime Minister who has not held a press conference, who only does one-sided communication. There is no mention of the serious issues facing the country.

"The country would like to know from him about jobs, inflation, tension in Kashmir and the border, and constant attack on women and children. This is unfortunate that he doesn't speak on these issues," Kumar said.

"Modiji forgot to speak on the Banaras Hindu University (BHU), the manner in which police brutally lathi-charged students and misbehaved with them by entering the girls' hostel. He even changed his route in Varanasi on seeing girls sitting on a dharna."

Noting this was 36th 'Mann Ki Baat', he said that Modi, even after three years, is still not able to understand people's problems.

"Modi spoke about khadi, cleanliness, and tourism. He said on October 2 (Mahatma Gandhi's birthday) everyone should buy khadi items so that the poor benefitted. But the Prime Minister doesn't know that the common people are pained by the rise in prices of dal, oil, cooking gas cylinders, and unemployment. And Modi's suggestion is 'to end poverty we should buy khadi items on October 2'."