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Kumaraswamy claims hidden BJP agenda in PM Modi’s blackout call
Kumaraswamy has alleged that the call for lighting diyas could be meant to celebrate BJP’s foundation day on April 6.
Janata Dal (Secular) leader and former Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy has asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to offer scientific evidence to back his call for switching off the lights for nine minutes at 9 pm on Sunday and suggested that the symbolic gesture may have been organized to mark BJP’s foundation day, which falls on Monday, April 6.
The prime minister on Friday gave a call for a nine-minute show of solidarity and united resolve by the citizens and asked for switching off electric lights and lighting up earthen lamps, candles or flashlights at 9 pm on Sunday. It has received a mixed response with some calling it a move to reenergize the nation towards the national goal of containing the coronavirus disease and others dismissing it as a marketing gimmick.
“Has the PM slyly asked the nation to observe a candlelight vigil on the eve of foundation day of (the) BJP? April 6 being its foundation day, what else can explain the choice of date & time for this event? I challenge the PM to offer a credible and scientific explanation,” Kumaraswamy tweeted.
PM Modi during his appeal, made through a video clip released on Friday, had added that the gesture will serve as a reminder that the country was united in the battle against coronavirus.
“At that time, if you have turned off all the lights of your homes, and each one of us in all directions has lit a diya; we will experience the superpower of light, clearly illuminating the common purpose we are all fighting for. In that light, in that lustre, in that radiance, let us resolve in our minds that we are not alone, that no one is alone! 130 crore Indians are committed, through a common resolve!” the PM had said.
In a series of tweets, Kumaraswamy accused Centre of not providing enough personal protective equipment (PPE) to doctors and demanded that testing should be made affordable for the common man. He alleged that the prime minister was not telling the nation what concrete steps are being taken to combat the Covid-19 menace and was instead giving “meaningless” tasks to an already exhausted population.
The JDS leader said that PM Modi was converting a national crisis into an event of self-aggrandisement and alleged BJP had a “hidden agenda” while the country faced an unprecedented global calamity.
The government has denied claims that there was a scientific purpose behind prime minister’s appeal to switch off lights and light diyas and clarified that it is purely a symbolic move to rally the citizens behind a common cause.
