Sonia Gandhi says Narendra Modi deserves credit for 10 things
Taking several digs at the BJP government, she said that Modi and his government were still in campaign mode even after a year of coming to power.
Addressing a meeting of the Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP), Congress President Sonia Gandhi, who is also CPP Chairperson, on Wednesday mounted a blistering attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi accusing him of indulging in petty politics on foreign soil and failing to deliver on his promise of acche din.
"Just last month Mr Modi attacked the UPA and his distinguished predecessor on a visit to France. In Canada, he sank to a new low by referring to the UPA in despicable terms. This outrageous remark on foreign soil belittles the dignity of the office he holds and is an embarrassment to the nation," she said.
Taking several digs at the BJP government, she said that Modi and his government were still in campaign mode even after a year of coming to power. "Behind the smokescreen of development the government is providing acche din only for crony capitalists. Under the pretext of 'Make in India' the government is planning to dilute the rights and interests of workers and labourers. Do they make nothing in India?" she said.
She also came down heavily on Modi government's economic policies showing that his government had very little to showcase. "There is no substantial economic achievement. As per the labour bureau survey report, job creation has slowed down. As per the PIB, 8 core sectors of the economy have registered negative growth. Investment in manufacturing is falling and exports have declined," she said.
Seeking to bust the myth of Modi's acche din, Sonia questioned: "What do they deserve credit for?" Offering a left-handed compliment, she then went on to list 10 things for which Modi government deserves credit.
"They deserve credit for the most anti-farmer legislative amendments to our Land Acquisition Bill. They deserve credit for ignoring the severe plight of farmers throughout the country in a show of callous unconcern that has never been seen before."
"They deserve credit for threatening the livelihood of millions of handloom weavers and artisans by their proposed repeal of the Handlooms Reservation Act, and thereby also endangering a treasured part of our cultural heritage."
"They deserve credit for keeping vacant critical appointments in the government structure, especially those that have independent authority to question the working of the government's machinery. What is the government afraid of?"
"They deserve credit for creating the most centralized government in India's recent history. Ministers hardly matter. Even the bureaucrats, who are supposedly empowered, feel paralyzed because all key files are pending in the PMO for decision. The prime minister likes to talk of consensus. Yet ignoring convention, this government acts with obstinate arrogance. I give you two examples, recently government imposed AFSPA in Arunachal Pradesh without as much as informing the CM, and they were going through with the Bangladesh Land agreement excluding Assam. Such arrogance is also apparent when forcing its way in Parliament. Out of 51 bills 43 have not been sent to the standing committee."
"The government also deserved credit for redefining democracy: it is no longer "of the people, by the people, and for the people; but a government of some people, by one person, for a select few."
"We can give the government credit for transforming our nation into a land where every day we hear of places of worship of minorities being desecrated."
"Yet we can give them credit for making Indians feel unsafe in India and for poisoning the political discourse of our great country."
"And we can give them credit for presenting a budget that attacks the heart of the welfare programmes that have sustained the needy and the disadvantaged for years."
"This government deserves credit for shattering the nation's hopes for improved security for women. The Nirbhaya Fund has been scrapped. Instead of one rape crisis centers in each of the country's 660 districts, there will be just 36 in total. The budget for the women and child development ministry has been cut to less than half. And all this by a prime minister who launched Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao."
"We can give this government credit for strengthening one man's power while weakening the strength if the state. The BJP has reduced budgets allocations for modernising the central police force, that too in the backdrop of increased deadly attacks on our jawans and paramilitary personnel in Chhattisgarh and other places."