New Delhi, April 27, 2023 (PPI-OT): Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi refused to take questions from youth at the BJP’s Yuvam 2023 conclave in Kochi and immediately left after delivering a 45-minute lecture. While most TV channels celebrated the conclave as a path breaking event, it was mere hype. The Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) raised questions on unemployment, spiralling prices of essential commodities and India’s low ranking in the Global Hunger Index. Communist Party of India-Marxist state secretary MV Govindan inaugurated ‘Ask the PM’ public meeting in Kollam and questioned the BJP government’s silence on former governor of Jammu and Kashmir Satya Pal Malik’s revelations on the 2019 Pulwama explosion.
The BJP had claimed that Yuvam would be a platform for students, who were selected online, to ask questions and interact with Modi on the party’s Kerala agenda. The event was organised under the name ‘Vibrant Youth for Modifying India’, which claimed to be non-political, but an array of BJP leaders, state president K Surendran, new entrant Anil K Antony and others were present. Modi claimed that the state has suffered due to the ideological conflict between the CPI-M-led LDF and the Congress-led UDF.
“The PM and the BJP are trying to spread false propaganda and misleading the people on the developmental achievements of Kerala,” alleged CPI(M) state secretary MV Govindan. Soon after the conclave was announced, the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) claimed that questions would be screened before being asked to Modi. DYFI national president and Rajya Sabha member AA Rahim accused Modi of running away from the “scripted” questions. “The organisers of Yuvam 2023 projected that the youth could interact with the PM and the event would be apolitical. However, no questions were allowed. The PM delivered a political speech and left the venue,” he posted on Facebook.
The DYFI asked 100 questions to the PM at public meetings under the theme ‘Youth of India-Ask the PM’ in all the districts. The questions included the BJP’s election promises: two crore jobs for the youth every year, retrieving black money hoarded abroad in 100 days, ensuring MSP to farmers and other pressing issues, including those faced by women, Dalits, tribes and minorities. The organisation recalled Albert Einstein’s statement on asking questions. “The important thing is not to stop questioning,” a DYFI statement said countering the BJP’s scripted questions. “The PM has never held a press meet since assuming office nine years ago. He is afraid of questions,” the statement read.
The DYFI’s first question was how India slipped to the 107th position in the list of 121 nations on the Global Hunger Index. The organisation also asked why the BJP government refuses to implement the MS Swami Nathan Commission report recommending C2+50% as the MSP as promised during the 2014 election campaign. “Why didn’t the Union government fill 12 lakh vacancies in various departments and 5 lakh vacancies in the Railways? Is this the way the government treats the nation’s youth?” asked DYFI state president Vaseef.
“According to the 2022 National Crime Records Bureau report, 25,231 youth committed suicide due to unemployment and indebtedness. In 2014, the BJP promised to provide two crore jobs per year,” he told media. The DYFI also questioned the increasing LPG, petrol and diesel prices, leading to rising prices of essential commodities. One of the participants at the Kochi event asked why the Centre slashed the budgetary allocation for pre-matric scholarships by 41%.
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