Ghulam Nabi Azad slams BJP, wants UP CM Adityanath to resign

Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad on Sunday slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government by highlighting the Gorakhpur hospital deaths and the recent Panchkula violence.

Speaking at the 'BJP Bhagao Desh Bachao' rally in Patna, he said that the BJP has been deceiving 130 crore people of India for over three years now, adding that the state of law and order has never been as bad in history as it is now.

Further, he took a shot at the BJP-led Uttar Pradesh government over the Gorakhpur hospital deaths, wherein reportedly over 70 children died in a week.

Talking about the former UP Chief Minister, he said, "Akhilesh Yadav had been governing well in the state, but BJP began a ploy against him that there's no law and order there. The number of crimes that happened in his five years of governance has already happened in four months of BJP's rule."

"At least Akhilesh had not given industrial gas instead of oxygen to kill the children, they (BJP) are the murderers of those children. On the day of the tragedy, I reached the hospital at 9 in the morning; the government's seven ministers met at five in the evening," added the Congress leader.

Azad did not spare the current chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, Yogi Adityanath.

"UP Chief Minister has not once apologized till now; They are adamantly lying that the deaths weren't caused by lack of oxygen. I congratulate NDR for conducting a sting operation in which the oxygen-in charge has revealed that they had ran out of oxygen, so they fed industrial oxygen to the children that killed all the children, but this information will never be announced," he said.

"Now that the truth has come out, shouldn't the UP CM resign?" Azad said, adding that if he has even a shred of dignity, he will.

Pointing out the current agitation in the BJP-ruled state of Haryana, he said, "So many people died and their property got destructed in Punjab and Haryana, but BJP said that the CM has done a good job. When you kill infants in Gorakhpur with industrial oxygen, and BJP's CM gets 36 people murdered and properties destructed in Haryana because of his incompetency, and then BJP leaders say "the work was done well", that is 'New India' of BJP, in my opinion."

Referring to the floods in Bihar, he compared the UPA-led Union government's steps in 2008 with the NDA-led government's steps today.

"When our party was at the centre in 2008 , seven districts were affected and today 21 districts are affected. That time 30 Lakh people were affected and today almost two crore people are affected. Then 250 deaths had occurred but today the number is 440. Ten years ago, UPA government had given 1000 Crore, and today, the union government has given 500 Crore. The loss is ten times more but the amount provided is half," he said.

"You use your power to intimidate but aapke din ab purey hone wale hai," he parodied Prime Minister Narendra Modi's campaigning slogan of 'achchhe din ab aane wale hai' to a roaring crowd.

Rashtriya Janta Dal (RJD) Chief Lalu Prasad Yadav organised the anti-BJP rally in a show of strength to the NDA government at Gandhi Maidan today.