Parliament session will not bring rain, says Shah

BJP president Amit Shah on Friday went on the defensive and blamed it on the weather when questioned about justifying development at a time the country was facing drought and farmers were committing suicide.

"Desh me bhishan akaal hai bhaiya...duniya me akal hai...iske karan ye stithi utpanna hui hai (There is drought in the country...even in the world...due to this such situation has come..)," Shah responded when asked about justifying development while 33 crore people have no drinking water and farmers are committing suicide.

The question was asked at a press conference in the BJP headquarters when Shah was listing the achievements of the Narendra Modi government on its completion of two years in power.

When reminded that a Parliament session had been convened to discuss the drought situation, Shah said tersely, "Barish kahan se layega session... Barish ke bagair pani kahan se aayega (How will a parliament session bring rains...Without rains, how will water come)."

This year's drought has affected over one lakh villages in 313 districts across 13 states.

Even the Supreme Court had asked the central government to revise the drought management manual prepared in 2010 to provide effective relief to calamity-hit farmers and prepare a national plan to tackle the crisis.

The issue was also discussed in Parliament in the second half of the budget session for three-four days and Prime Minister Narendra Modi held consultations with 11 chief ministers of drought-affected states.

--IANS

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