Modi has failed to fulfill promises, says Kanhaiya

Patna: JNU student leader Kanhaiya Kumar on Sunday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has failed to fulfill any of his promises.

"There has been no relief from price hike nor have people got jobs as promised," Kanhaiya Kumar said at an event in Patna, which was marred by people waving black flags at him.

Asserting that freedom of speech was his right, the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union president said Modi had promised to bring back the black money stashed in other countries and deposit Rs.15 lakh in everyone's bank accounts.

"I have been checking my bank account daily, but Rs.15 lakh as promised by Modi is yet to come," he said during his 80-minute speech in Hindi.

"Modi-ji, how do I remain silent and not speak against you," he asked at the event which was organised by the All India Students Federation.

As Kanhaiya Kumar addressed the packed S.K. Memorial Hall in Patna, two youths waved black flags and raised slogans of 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai'.

Both youths were thrashed by Kanhaiya Kumar's supporters despite his repeated requests to them not to do so.

Police detained the youths, allegedly associated with a Hindutva organisation.

The JNU student leader said he was not scared of anything.

"Whether you hurl a shoe or a stone at me or oppose me, I will continue to speak. Such opposition will not demoralise me," he said.

Kanhaiya Kumar said there was need to differentiate between "Modi bhakti and desh bhakti".

Kanhaiya Kumar said poor people hardly get bank loans, while "only capitalists get loans from banks... they do not repay the loans and instead they fly to London overnight" -- a reference to industrialist Vijay Mallya, who is in Britain after defaulting on a bank loan of over Rs.9,000 crore.

He also refuted allegations that he has hired a public relations officer (PRO), carries an iPhone and travels in business class in flights.

"I don't have a PRO, what is the use for me? Those who are spreading such rumours are part of a powerful force that is against my campaign, which I along with 8,000 students of JNU and others across the country began," he told IANS.

He clarified that he was not paying for his visits to any part of the country.

"My visit is paid for by the organisers, who have been inviting me to address them and join their protest. It is simple, I don't have money to buy a plane ticket."

In February, Kanhaiya Kumar was arrested on sedition charges in connection with an event on the JNU campus commemorating the hanging of Parliament House terror attack convict Afzal Guru.

It was also alleged that "anti-national" slogans were raised during that event by Kanhaiya Kumar and other participants.

The Delhi High Court in March granted him bail for six months on the condition that he would not participate in any activity "which may be termed anti-national".

The JNU has imposed a fine of Rs.10,000 on Kanhaiya Kumar and rusticated three other students for taking part in the February event.