Trump's visit won't help falling value of Rs, says Shiv Sena

Mumbai: The Shiv Sena has criticised the ongoing preparations for the much awaited visit of US President Donald Trump, saying it is a reflection of the “slave mentality” of Indians.

Trump’s India trip is like the visit of a “Badshah (emperor),” an editorial in the Sena mouthpiece Saamana said Tuesday.

Taking a dig at the construction of a wall on a plot housing several slums in Ahmedabad ahead of Trump’s visit there, the Sena said that the US President’s trip would neither stop the fall of the rupee’s value in the foreign exchange market nor offer betterment to the slum dwellers staying behind the wall.

“Before Independence, the British king or queen used to visit one of their slave nations like India. The kind of preparations underway with taxpayers’ money for the arrival of Trump is similar to that. This reflects the slave mentality of Indians,” it said.

The Sena took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation's (AMC) move to build a wall on the plot to “hide the slums” on the route through which Trump’s convoy would pass.

“Former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had once given the slogan ‘Garibi Hatao’ which was ridiculed for a long time. It seems now Mr Modi's plan is ‘Garibi Chupao (hide poverty)’,” the Marathi publication said.

“Is there any financial allocation for such a wall being built in Ahmedabad? Is the US going to offer loan to India to build such walls across the country?” the editorial wondered.

“We have heard Trump is going to be in Ahmedabad for only three hours but the wall construction will cost almost Rs 100 crore to the state exchequer,” it said.

It is basically a political arrangement between Prime Minister Modi and US President Trump, the Sena claimed. Last year, ‘Howdy, Modi!’ (a mega event jointly addressed by the Indian prime minister and Trump) was organised in the US, it noted.

A similar programme, “Kem Chho Trump” (Gujarati expression for how are you Trump), has been now organised (in Ahmedabad) ahead of the US elections, chiefly because of a sizable number of Gujarati people living in America, the Shiv Sena claimed.