The Mumbai Police detained members of the Maharashtra Youth Congress on Friday for protesting outside the BJP’s office in the city claiming that the Centre’s ₹20 lakh crore Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan stimulus package was nothing but an eyewash.
State Youth Congress chief Satyajit Tambe-Patil said its workers reached out to the intended beneficiaries of the package, but could not find anyone who had received actual help.
He said, “We interacted with farmers, people running micro, small and medium enterprises, and unemployed youth, but found no one who received help from the Centre.”
Mr. Tambe-Patil said the three BJP MPs from Mumbai should account for the disbursement of funds from the package to the marginalised. Mr. Tambe-Patil said, “We shall exercise our right to protest even after we are released as long as Maharashtra continues to be governed by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar’s Constitution.”
BJP spokesperson Keshav Upadhye said if the Youth Congress workers actually care about the poor, then they should pressurise Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to announce a package for them. “But Congress leaders will not show that much courage,” he said. Mumbai BJP president Mangal Prabhat Lodha said, “The Congress is lying. It better undertake a course correction. Otherwise, we will reply in a similar manner.”
