Ask Him About Aam, Imli, Papayas But Dare Not Ask About Jobs, Farmers or Dalits: Misa Bharti’s Veiled Jibe at Modi
The remark was in reference to PM Modi’s PR gimmick of the ‘non political’ interview with Akshay Kumar.
Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Dr Misa Bharti on April 26 hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his silence on important issues like joblessness and the agrarian crisis but discussing mangoes at length in the so-called non-political interview given to actor Akshay Kumar.
In the interview, the PM had spoken at length about his “love of mangoes”.
Bharti, the RJD Lok Sabha candidate from Pataliputra, Bihar, wrote on Twitter, “Ask sir about mangoes, tamarind, papaya, his diet plan for Navaratra but don’t you dare ask him about unemployment, farmers, workers, the poor, dalits, backward classes, exploitation of tribals or corruption.”
साहब से आम पूछो, इमली पूछो, पपीता पूछो, नवरात्रा का डाइट प्लान पूछो
पर खबरदार जो बेरोजगारी, किसान, मजदूर, गरीब, दलित, पिछड़ा, आदिवासी की हक़मारी, भ्रष्टाचार पर कुछ पूछे तो!
— Dr. Misa Bharti (@MisaBharti) April 26, 2019
The prime minister’s silence over the agrarian crisis, unemployment as well as the media’s inability to ask important questions about the same has been criticised vehemently over the past few years.
In 2017, drought-hit Tamil Nadu farmers had protested in Delhi for over a year, pleading the Prime Minister to hear their demands. However, as the PM and the entire BJP government ignored the requests, the protestors had displayed the skulls and bones of other farmers who had committed suicide.
The protesting farmers had even resorted to shaving off their beards and heads as well as to eating rats and snakes, all in the hope of getting their representatives to pay attention.
Earlier, journalist Ravish Kumar on his NDTV show dedicated a whole episode to mangoes, in a satirical rebuke of the PM’s desperate attempt to appeal to voters by advertising the personal aspects of his life.