In Davanagere, April 6, Union Minister for Food, Public Distribution and Consumer Affairs, Pralhad Joshi, responded to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's criticism regarding the Centre's proposed delimitation of Lok Sabha constituencies. Joshi accused the Congress of attempting to create divisions by focusing on the "North-South states" issue.
Joshi stated that voter numbers across states have increased by 40 to 50 lakh, and the delimitation process is based on population percentages. He dismissed allegations made by Rahul Gandhi and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah as unfounded.
He questioned the Congress on who was in power in 2008 when the delimitation was carried out previously, and asked if mistakes were made, why weren't they corrected then.
Joshi also accused Rahul Gandhi of arrogance, questioning his authority to lecture others. He pointed out that delimitation exercises in 1952, 1963, 1971, and 2001 were all based on population criteria.
He accused the Congress of lacking a national perspective, instead trying to create divisions between North and South India to provoke conflict among people. He questioned whether the Congress wants votes from North India, adding that by invoking regional divisions during elections, the party is hurting national unity.
Joshi also highlighted that despite late Manmohan Singh being the Prime Minister, all decisions were effectively controlled by Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.
Regarding cooking gas, Joshi stated that despite shortages in several countries due to the Middle East conflict, India has not faced such a crisis so far. He clarified that India has around 70 per cent stock reserves and there is no issue with domestic LPG supply.
He acknowledged that there might be minor issues with auto LPG but said there is no shortage.
Joshi suggested that auto drivers could temporarily switch to petrol if needed.
Finally, Joshi criticised the state government, stating that the Congress had announced five guarantee schemes but had failed to implement even one properly.