Narendra Modi, the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate was described as a “puppet in the hands of Reliance (Industries) ” by Prashant Bhushan and said that his party will take Modi head on in the Lok Sabha polls in April and May this year.
Mr. Bhushan is an advocate practising in the Supreme Court of India and a social activist. Bhushan is notable for filling Public Interest Litigation for social awareness and exposing corruption cases.
The AAP has desisted from enunciating its stand on the BJP leader or Gujarat’s governance, with the exception of allegations made a year before that the Gujarat CM give preferentiality to Adani Group for supplying electricity, even as cheaper power tariffs were offered by the state-owned Gujarat Mineral Development Corp. However, with the party gearing up for the Lok Sabha elections, this would change Bhushan, a member of AAP’s Political Advisory Committee (PAC)
“His (Modi’s) talk on corruption is phony. He will represent the same kind of corrupt politics that we have already seen in this country and we (the AAP) have already exposed his corruption in the Adani case. Moreover why is Modi silent on the gas pricing dispute which is one of the biggest scams today? The Radia tapes if you listen will remind you that the BJP leadership is nothing but a puppet in the hands of Reliance and Modi is part of this corruption,” he said, interacting in conversation with the member of the Janata Dal-United (BJP’s ally at that point) NK Singh and Niira Radia on getting BJP to replace Arun Shourie as the lead speaker in the Upper House to change the course of the discussion on gas pricing in July 2009 in favour of RIL.
Bhushan’s views on Modi,was resonance by Yogendra Yadav, who is extensively regarded as the new party’s chief strategist, though his tone was softer but he made it by saying that, “It’s not a question on whether we will raise Modi’s corrupt practices because we have already done it. We were the first one to talk about it when we raised the Adani issue.
“We will talk about it again and again as and when the need arises “. Alleged probing by Gujarat government agencies would also be brought to the vanguard during the election campaign, said Bhushan.
“With the help of state’s security agencies, he pry on innocent people and obliterate the career of sincere officers like Pradeep Sharma. Amit Shah, a man with murder charges against him is his lieutenant. Lokayukta was not formed in Gujarat because he didn’t it .
All these issues will be raise when the Lok Sabha elections will be round the corner and tell everyone what we think about Modi,” the activist lawyer said.
AAP has seen its membership in the western state increase to around one lakh from 6,000 members, after the Delhi assembly elections.
Social activist Kanu Kalsariya, senior academicians, and former bureaucrats, among others, have joined the party in the state in recent times apart from BJP MLA.According to Bhushan, Gujarat is one of the states AAP expects to do well in the upcoming election. Bhushan has been an old opponent of the RIL, having filing a PIL in the 1990s against the award of the Mukta-Panna oil and gas fields. RIL has two industrial complexes at Hariza and Jamnagar in Gujarat.
Bhushan’s statement on Kashmir, sparks row
Bhushan had recently said a referendum should be carried out in Kashmir to decide on deployment of the army to deal with security threats in the Valley.
However, the Aam Aadmi Party had distanced itself from his views.
The Hindu Raksha Dal activists broke flower pots kept outside AAP’s office and tore party posters. Some glass doors were also smashed in the attack.
“We today staged a protest against AAP’s stand on Kashmir. AAP’s leader Prashant Bhushan’s remark on Kashmir is very sad for Hindus due to which we have staged protest outside party office,” said Pinky Choudhary, national convenor, Hindu Raksha Dal.
“Some youths, who are said to belong to Hindu Raksha Dal, gathered outside the party office and raised slogans against AAP. They also broke flower pots placed outside party office,” said Dilip Pandey, spokesperson, AAP.
Police have registered a case against unknown persons.