‘No fisheries ministry in Italy’: Giriraj Singh’s reminder to Rahul Gandhi
Speaking to fishermen in Puducherry, Gandhi had wondered why there is no ministry for them in Delhi.
Union fisheries minister Giriraj Singh on Wednesday responded to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s comment in Puducherry on a ministry for fishermen in Delhi, reminding him that the ministry had already been established by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in May 2019.
“Rahul ji, you should know that the new ministry was established by Modi ji on 31 May 2019. PM Modi also started the ₹20,050 crore PM Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) which is several times higher than the central government’s expenditure ( ₹3,682 crore) from independence till 2014,” Singh, the inaugural holder of the office, tweeted in Hindi.
“I also request you to either come to the new fisheries ministry or let me know where to come, I’ll come. I will enlighten you on the schemes being run by the fisheries ministry across the country and in Puducherry,” he posted in a subsequent tweet.
“There’s no separate ministry of fisheries in Italy. It comes under the ministry of agriculture and forestry policies,” the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader tweeted in Italian. The reference to Italy was with regards to Gandhi’s mother, Congress president Sonia Gandhi, who was born in the European country.
Earlier in the day, addressing fishermen in Puducherry, the former Congress president had said, “I consider you to be the farmers of the sea. If farmers of the land can have their ministry in Delhi, then why is it that the farmers of the sea don’t have a ministry in Delhi?”
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A host of central ministers and BJP leaders have taken on Gandhi over his comment. Union ministers Smriti Irani, Anurag Thakur and Kiren Rijiju joined Singh in questioning the Lok Sabha MP from Kerala’s Wayanad. Irani, who defeated Gandhi in his home constituency of Amethi in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, also tweeted in Italian, posting, “They only know one thing. Spreading lies, fear and misinformation,” taking aim at the Congress.
The ministry of fisheries, animal husbandry and dairying was formed after Narendra Modi was re-elected as the Prime Minister in May 2019, five years after becoming PM for the first time.