The Prime minister Narendra Modi has today filed his nomination papers from Varanasi. Yesterday he held a massive road show in which thousands of people of the holy town were present giving a clear cut message that he’s going to win for the third time as well with a massive majority. The people of Varanasi seems to be happy with prime minister on the development front, renovation and upgradation of the holy township including construction and consecration of much awaited Lord Rama’s temple in Ayodhya. However, the Congress party has questioned prime minister on Ganga still being polluted and dirty despite the government spending staggering twenty thousand crores in “Clean Ganga Campaign”. The senior Congress leader and national communication in-charge of AICC Jairam Ramesh came down heavily on prime minister Narendra Modi blaming him for his failures in Varanasi seeking several answers.
In a lengthy message on social media platform X Congress leader Jairam Ramesh today asked him certain questions before he filed the nomination paper asking the PM that after spending Rs 20,000 crore, why has the Ganga gotten dirtier? Why has the PM abandoned the Varanasi villages he had “adopted”? Why is the PM determined to destroy Mahatma Gandhi’s legacy in Varanasi?
Mentioning about his alleged rhetorics Jairam Ramesh wrote : When he came to Varanasi in 2014, Mr. Modi had said “Maa Ganga ne mujhe bulaaya hain.” He promised to purify the waters of the Holy Ganga and soon after coming to power, rebranded the existing Operation Ganga as Namami Gange said Ramesh adding further that ten years later, the “Namami Gange” project has cost the exchequer more than Rs. 20,000 crore. Showing the consequences of the prime minister’s over ambitious Namame Ganga project Jairam Ramesh made startled revelation on X saying : The number of Polluted River Stretches has increased from 51 to 66, 71% of monitoring stations have reported dangerous bacteria at up to 40 times more than safe levels, and antibiotic resistant bacteria have now been found in the waters. Where has the 20,000 crore in taxpayer money gone, questioned the Congress leader ? Levelling charges of alleged corruption the senior Congress leader and former environment minister during Dr. Manmohan Singh regime Ramesh asked : How much has been siphoned off in corruption and mismanagement? How can the people of Varanasi trust a man who has given a jumla even to Ma Ganga? 2. Outside the city of Varanasi lie 8 villages that have had the misfortune of being “adopted” by the outgoing PM revealed Ramesh. He added that a March 2024 ground report found that despite big promises of “smart schools”, health facilities and housing, the villages have seen absolutely no progress during the last 10 years. Substantiating his charge if inefficiency Ramesh said that Domri village has almost no pukka housing. Nagepur village has extremely shoddy roads. Dalit communities in Jogapur and Jayapur have no toilets and no water, and the flagship “Nal Se Jal Scheme” seems to have missed Parampur village entirely. The condition of Mr. Modi’s adopted villages tells us a lot about his sense of duty, or lack thereof, towards serving his constituents said Ramesh highlighting the negligence in developmental works in villages adopted by PM. Why has the PM abandoned his “adopted” villages? Is this the true face of “Modi ki guarantee”? asked Ramesh adding further that it is well known that the outgoing PM’s ideology is that of Godse, not Gandhi. He has taken his malicious hatred of the Father of our Nation to the extent of destroying the Sarwa Sewa Sangh, started by Acharya Vinobha Bhave, and associated with personalities like Dr Rajendra Prasad, Lal Bahadur Shastri, and Jayaprakash Narayan. It has been rendering extraordinary public service to the nation since 1955. It had been operating on 13 acres of land, close to the Varanasi Railway Station, for which it had full possession papers. It was evicted from its iconic campus in August 2023, and the land was taken over by the Indian Railways. Only one corner of the campus, occupied by the Gandhi Vidya Sansthan, remains untouched because it had already been captured by the RSS. Why does the PM persist in his hypocrisy of praising Gandhiji abroad, while destroying Gandhian institutions at home? Can he openly admit his admiration for Godse over Gandhi? Asked Jairam Ramesh through his post on X.