Mumbai, Feb 17 The Shiv Sena on Monday wondered whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi was trying to 'hide' the poverty in Gujarat to impress US President Donald Trump in Ahmedabad next week.
"Modi has been the CM of Gujarat for nearly 15 years and then the country's PM for over five years. But in order to cover up the poverty and misery of the slums in Ahmedabad, a huge wall is being constructed on the route Trump will take," the Sena said in an edit in the party-run newspaper 'Saamana'.
It said that after landing at the Ahmedabad Airport, Trump will spend barely three hours in that city the first ever visit by an American President to Gujarat, and for this the state government is making hectic efforts to make it memorable, all personally monitored by the Prime Minister.
While as many as 17 Ahmedabad roads are being spruced up, the road outside the airport is being redone, some new roads are being constructed for the American "badshaah", but the funniest is that a wall is coming up to hide the slums falling on the US President's route in the city, said Saamana.
"In the past, there was much ridiculed 'garibi hatao' slogan (by Congress), and now it appears to have transformed into 'garibi chhupao' policy What message is the Centre conveying by this? Has the government made any budgetary provisions for it or will Trump now offer aid to build such walls all over India?" the Sena sarcastically demanded.
It labelled as 'slave mentality' the government's approach to cater to the US First Couple's comforts like the food they will eat, their beds and mattresses, chairs and tables, bathroom, chandeliers, etc., even though Trump is a wealthy capitalist and hardly a truthful world leader.
The Sena also commented on how on the eve of his India trip Trump knocked off India from the list of developing countries and upgraded it to a 'developed' nation, with huge ramifications for the Indian businesses.
But it expressed hope that Modi would be able to sweet-talk Trump out of this 'bitterness' during his two-day visit to India next week, said Saamana.
( With inputs from IANS )