Satya Pal Malik’s unusual praise for Rahul Gandhi, then swipe at Centre
Meghalaya governor Satya Pal Malik said he hadn’t made money during his years in politics, else he too would have been raided by the Enforcement Directorate and Income Tax department
MEERUT: Meghalaya governor Satya Pal Malik has praised Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who is fronting the party’s ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’, saying that he was doing a good job and hoped that the 3,570 km journey from Kanyakumari to Kashmir will lead to some “good outcomes”.
Malik, who addressed an event in Bulandshahr district’s Moodhi Bakapur village on Thursday, said Rahul Gandhi was doing good work and extended his best wishes for his endeavours.
Asked about his speech at the event during his visit to Uttar Pradesh, Malik told HT on Friday over phone: “You can take it as my good wishes for him (Rahul Gandhi) if I am appreciating his endeavour”.
“I hope this yatra (Bharat Jodo Yatra) will also have some good outcomes for the country”.
The veteran politician has been publicly critical of the Union government and Prime MinisterNarendra Modi over the farmers’ issue on numerous occasions but his appreciation for Rahul Gandhi was unusual. It comes just two years after Malik took a sharp swipe at Gandhi for his stinging attack on the Jammu and Kashmir administration for not allowing political leaders to visit Kashmir Valley after revocation of the erstwhile state’s special status under Article 370. Malik, who was then J&K governor, had accused Gandhi of lying about “deaths and (use of ) brute force”.
At Thursday’s event, Satya Pal Malik said he was not against PM Modi and stressed that it will be to PM Modi’s advantage if he acts on the issues flagged by him.
Malik said the farmers and the youth in the country were in deep trouble. “The government has appointed a man as the chairman of MSP (minimum support price) committee who formulated the three controversial farm laws. If nothing happens on the MSP issue, it will lead to a big fight between farmers and the government,” he said.
The governor said he could take up issues with PM Modi because he hadn’t enriched himself. Otherwise, the Enforcement Directorate and the Income Tax department would have raided him. He also criticised the Centre’s Agnipath scheme, saying that the nation’s security will be impacted if “its ‘fauj’ (military) and farmers were not strong”.
The Meghalaya governor also took a jab at the central government for changing the name of “Rajpath” in the heart of Delhi, saying the prime minister probably did not have an inauguration scheduled for Thursday and so changed Rajpath’s name to be able to inaugurate it.
Malik said the name, Rajpath, was given by the country’s first prime minister Pt Jawaharlal Nehru and not by the British. Rajpath, a stretch of road between Rashtrapati Bhavan and India Gate, which has been refurbished as part of Central Vista Avenue - has been renamed “Kartavya Path”.
