Taking exception to Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi ridiculing the Narendra Modi government as “suit boot ki sarkar”, Union Minister for Communications and Information Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad launched a counter attack by saying that “we are neither a suit-boot nor a suitcase government.”
Mr. Prasad told presspersons here on Tuesday, “We are not here to satisfy those rejected and dejected by the people. We have to satisfy the people of India and they are satisfied with our performance.”
Taking exception to Mr. Gandhi staying away from the Lok Sabha session for a month, he said, “It is our primary responsibility to be present during the Lok Sabha session. But the top leader (Mr. Gandhi) of the Congress stayed away from the session for a month for his introspection, and then says that we are a suit-boot government.”
The Minister described the one-year of the Modi government as a journey from “gloom to growth and despair to hope”, while accusing the erstwhile UPA government of indulging in scams that not only resulted in losses, but also affected development.
Digital India, Make in India, and Skill India formed the triangle on which the Modi government wanted to rebuild the country, he said.
Referring to his Ministry, Mr. Prasad said the Centre wanted to increase Internet users from the present 30 crore to 50 crore in the next two years. Also, 600 telephone exchanges in the country were set to be digitised for making them “next-generation ready”, he said.
Taking exception to Mr. Gandhi wondering what the Modi government had achieved so far, Mr. Prasad said, “Mr. Rahul and Congress president Sonia Gandhi should first focus on the reasons for the number of their party MPs dwindling, instead of worrying about the Modi government.”
He said Mr. Modi had restored the dignity of the Prime Minister’s post, while alleging that the former Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, did not have authority to make decisions without consulting Ms. Sonia and Mr. Rahul. The Modi government has managed to rekindle hope and optimism among people through its performance as well as corruption-free governance, he claimed.
