Counter Oppn charge: PM to BJP

New Delhi, On a day the rival Congress launched a massive offensive against his government’s proposed Land Acquisition Amendment Bill, Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserted that all efforts by the BJP-run dispensation at the Centre were aimed at uplifting the poor and weaker sections of society. He said his government was pro-poor.
Modi also indicated that there would be no dilution of the land Bill, which is all set to spark off another phase of confrontation between the BJP-led government and the Opposition parties in the second half of the Budget session that resumes tomorrow.
Preparing for a tough fight, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu has asked BJP parliamentarians to be present in the House throughout the session.
At the workshop organised for the party MPs today, the PM said the BJP-led NDA was “pro-poor and pro-farmers” but its achievements and efforts were being ignored by the Opposition and also the media.
He told his MPs to “do good work” and asked them to ignore “baseless” criticism. “There are some people who will continue to criticise the government. But we must make efforts to reach out to people who want to listen to the good work of the government,” he said.
He said all government schemes, including ‘Clean India’, anti-corruption efforts, Beti bachao, beti padao abhiyan, were pro-poor. Emphasising the need to take the “right message” to people to counter the campaign against his government, he said: “We want land to build houses for poor. It is the poor who need houses. “Am I wrong in saying that people don’t have homes? Is it wrong to dream to say that poor have houses, electricity, water, hospitals and schools? All policies of the government are in this direction,” Modi said. Today the PM seemed on defensive in his narration, way off from his traditional offensive self.