Rahul Gandhi, Mocked Repeatedly Over Fisheries Ministry Demand, Clarifies

Congress MP Rahul Gandhi has doubled down on his claim that the country needed a "ministry for fisheries", days after the centre rubbished a comment he made in Puducherry that fishermen have no support from the government.

Mr Gandhi's new attack on the centre over supporting fisheries at par with the farm sector, this time, took a semantic departure from his earlier swipe - he said the country needed a "ministry of fisheries" and "not just a department".

Mr Gandhi while addressing fishermen on February 17 had called them "farmers of the sea" and sought a separate ministry for fisheries. Several union ministers including the Fisheries Minister himself, Giriraj Singh, had then quickly pointed out that Mr Gandhi's claim wasn't entirely correct.

In a fresh tweet today, Mr Gandhi used the difference between a ministry and a department in a swipe at the centre.

"Dear PM, Fisherfolk need an independent and dedicated ministry of fisheries, not just a department within a ministry. PS - 'Hum do Humare do' obviously hurt bad," Mr Gandhi tweeted today.

Dear PM,

Fisherfolk need an independent and dedicated ministry of fisheries, not just a department within a ministry.

PS- "Hum do Humare do" obviously hurt bad.

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) February 25, 2021

The website of the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying says "the Department of Fisheries is one of the two Departments under the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying. It came into existence with effect from 05.02.2019 through carving out Fishery Division from the erstwhile Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries..."

Mr Gandhi's "hum do humare do" is not a new swipe at the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He has been taking veiled digs at the unnamed "two". Mr Gandhi had also pinned the "Ambani-Adani" tag on the three contentious farm laws and had claimed that the government works for only the two richest businessmen in the country.

"I'm astonished to know that a party's leader is unaware of a separate ministry formed for fisheries, animal husbandry and dairy by PM (Prime Minister Narendra Modi) in 2019 and I took oath as its minister. Work is underway in Puducherry and in other parts for the first time," Fisheries Minister Giriraj Singh told reporters on February 17.