Narendra Modi's tea-seller poser a show-off: Brinda Karat

CPI(M) leader Brinda Karat today said BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi was now a member of rich corporate families and his claim of being a tea-seller "is just show-off".

"Modi is now a member of rich corporate families and he shows no sign of sympathy towards tea-sellars... It is just his show-off," Karat told a rally in Varanasi, a centre for spinners and weavers.
She also attacked Gujarat Chief Minister Modi and BJP MP from Varanasi Murli Manohar Joshi for failing to take up the cause of weavers.

"Varanasi is a centre for weavers. A lot of packages from the Centre had been announced but their condition had not improved... Joshi in his five-year tenure as local MP has not raised a single question in Parliament for them," she said.

Karat branded Modi "a big lier" for his claims that weavers in Gujarat were in good condition.

"In Gujarat, weavers' handloom works have been replaced by big textiles mills... Powerlooms have been established by big corporators," she said.

The CPI(M) Politburo member said her party had always advocated for an integrated Andhra Pradesh and was opposed to the creation of Telangana.

Speaking on the ruckus in Parliament over the Telangana Bill, she said, "Today's incident has lowered the image of Parliament before the citizens of this country and even worldwide."

Referring to the Muzaffarnagar riots, Karat said, "RSS is trying to communalise whole Uttar Pradesh. It played a crucial role in inciting riots in Muzzafarnagar where nearly 40 thousand Muslims were displaced."

She said the Samajwadi Party had failed to check riots and control the situation.