Ahead of Kerala’s polls, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday, 24 February, visited and interacted with the fishermen at Thangassery beach in Kerala's Kollam district. Despite being rebuked by the Centre for his gaffe on a previous occasion, the leader stressed the need for a separate fisheries ministry again.
The 50-year-old leader spent an hour on a boat off the coast of Kerala, and expressed that the experience of casting net with fishermen familiarised him with the issues and difficulties of the fishing community.
AICC general secretary K C Venugopal and T N Prathapan M P, chairman of National Fishermen Congress, also accompanied him during his sea journey.
“This one hour in the sea has made me respect you even more because your life is dangerous and risky and even though we all eat fish, not many think of the tough life that you have,” Gandhi said, IANS quoted.
The congress president, who addressed fishermen as ‘brothers’, was photographed wearing a blue t-shirt and khaki trousers.
Elucidating on his experience of casting the net and fishing he added, “They put their entire labour and fight the sea. They buy the net and somebody else gets the profit,” PTI reported.
Despite being corrected for this claim on a previous occasion, the Wayanad MP went on to say that he will set up a ministry to look after the needs of fishermen.
‘Speaking a Lie Time and Again’
“While the farmers have a dedicated ministry, the fishermen do not have," IANS quoted Gandhi saying.
Union Minister Smriti Irani slammed Gandhi’s remarks, calling his comments a sustained lie. “The fact that he insults the people of Kerala by speaking a lie time and again is something that the citizens need to take note of,” Hindustan Times quoted Irani.
She added, “He was made available data with regard to the Ministry of Fisheries.”
While talking to news agency ANI, minster of State for Power (Independent Charge) said, “It is important that senior leaders of the Congress Party should make him understand so that he doesn't make such statements.”
‘Astonished’: Fisheries Minister Responds
Last week, while addressing the crowd in Puducherry, the leader had addressed the fishermen as ‘farmers of the sea’ and appealed for a fisheries ministry. Following Gandhi’s call, Union Fisheries Minister Giriraj Singh fact-checked the leader, reminding him that there was already a fisheries ministry in place.
Gandhi questioned, "I think to myself, if farmers of the land have a ministry in Delhi then why can't farmers of the sea have a ministry in Delhi?”
In response, Singh took a jab in Italian, saying “Dear Raul, there is no separate Ministry of Fisheries in Italy. It comes under the Ministry of Agricultural and Forestry Policies."
Highlighting that the MP was unaware of matters of state and governance, he added, "Rahul Gandhi is unaware that a separate ministry for fisheries, animal husbandry and dairying was formed by the Prime Minister in 2019,” further adding that he refuses to come out of Italy, NDTV reported.
The Congress leader’s ignorance also came under attack from several other BJP leaders, including Union Minister Kiren Rijiju. “Rahul Gandhi is demanding for a separate Ministry for Fisheries, whereas hon’ble PM @narendramodi Ji has already created the Ministry for Fisheries in 2019 itself!” he exclaimed on Twitter.
Rahul Gandhi's interaction with the fishermen on Wednesday was made significant as the Congress-led UDF has raised allegations against the Left LDF government in the state of Kerala over a deep sea fishing contract with a US-based company, PTI reported.
Speaking of the party’s manifesto, Gandhi said that he is ready to address the concerns of fisherfolk, iterating that, “There will be a separate page in the manifesto on what we will be doing for the fishermen.”
(With inputs from NDTV, PTI, Hindustan Times and IANS)
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)