New Delhi, Dec 7 (PTI) Congress leader Kapil Sibal todayaccused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of not caring about thecountry's future and being concerned only about electoralpolitics.
He also alleged that the prime minister was makingstatements without checking facts and urged him to be carefulin future and verify before he stated things like he appearedfor the Sunni Waqf Board before the Supreme Court in theAyodhya case.
Sibal said he appeared for Mohd Iqbal Ansari, whoselawyer M R Shamshad had engaged him to appear for him, and notthe Sunni Waqf Board.
Noting that the country is passing through "a difficultphase", the former union minister said the prime ministermaking a national issue of who he appears for as a lawyer inthe Supreme Court "speaks only of his mindset and hispriorities for the nation".
"I feel sad that we have a prime minister who doesn'tcare for the future of India but is only concerned withelectoral politics.
"Let us unite rather than divide the country. Let us takeit forward instead of pulling it back by making statementsthat do not behove the status of the office of the PrimeMinister," he told reporters.
Alleging that the prime minister is given to makingstatements "without checking facts", which he repeatedyesterday, he said, "He (PM) should have verified beforemaking a statement that I appeared for the Sunni Waqf Boardbefore the Supreme Court."Sibal said he also should have verified whether HajiMehboob, whom Modi thanked, is a member of the Sunni WaqfBoard.
"It is also surprising that my appearing for a party in acourt proceeding, which is my professional right, has eclipsedall other issues which are of immediate national concern. Idon't think that I am important enough for the prime ministerto make it a national issue as to who I appear for in courtproceedings," he said.
Noting that the country is passing through a difficultphase, he said demonetisation "robbed" poor people of theirlegitimate money leading to loss of lives, livelihood andjobs, while GST "destroyed" businesses from which one is yetto recover.
"It impacted GDP and cost the economy over 3 lakh crore.
This is actual and not presumptive loss," he said.
The prime minister, he said, must address the nation onthe following national issues: farmers are committing suicideand agricultural output has gone down, exports have declined,the youth is jobless, textile workers are up in arms, theinformal sector is in utter disarray and despair, educationand healthcare need urgent attention.
He alleged that healthcare is inaccessible to the poor,people can't breathe in many cities in India.
"The people of Gujarat now realise that the Gujarat modelof development has led to the poor getting poorer and the richenjoying the benefits of BJP's policies. The prime minister'sschemes have also not delivered. All these issues are notimportant for the prime minister. What is more important iswho I appear for in a litigation," the former minister said.
PTI SKCZMN.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.