Modi, Shah lead BJP MPs fast

New Delhi, April 12: Prime Minister rendra Modi and BJP President Amit Shah along with BJP MPs fasted on Thursday across the country to protest against the washout of the second half of Parliament’s Budget session for which the BJP blamed on the Congress. Modi observed the fast even as he continued with his official work, including iugurating the 10th edition of Defence Expo at Thiruvidanthai near Cheni. Shah undertook the hunger strike at Dharwad in election-bound Kartaka along with party’s Chief Ministerial candidate B.S. Yeddyurappa and other MPs.

Shah hit out at the Congress for “disrupting” Parliament, saying it happened for the first in independent India’s history that the ruling party (BJP) was ready to discuss every issue but the opposition was shying away from discussion. Bharatiya Jata Party MPs observed fast in thier constituencies while Rajya Sabha MPs protested at various places. Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who was present at the DefExpo, also observed a fast.

In Delhi, all seven BJP MPs — Union Minister Harsh Vardhan, who represents Chandani Chowk constituency, East Delhi MP Maheish Girri, New Delhi MP Meekshi Lekhi, West Delhi MP Pravesh Verma, North West Delhi MP Udit Raj, South Delhi MP Ramesh Bidhuri and North East Delhi MP Manoj Tiwari — observed fast, which will end at 5 p.m. Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu joined them. Tiwari, also the Delhi BJP President, said he will continue his “indefinite hunger strike” to protest against the continuous neglect of developmental works in his constituency by the Arvind Kejriwal government in Delhi.(IANS)