Tearing into the one-year rule of the BJP-led government at the Centre, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of failing in all spheres of activity in the country.
Addressing a rally organised by the State Youth Congress here on Tuesday, he reiterated his description of calling the Modi government as a “suit-boot sarkar.” “This celebration is only for a few powerful friends of the government. Farmers and small businessmen have nothing to celebrate,” he said.
Insensitivity to poor
Mr. Gandhi said that there were many reasons why people believed this government to be a ‘suit-boot sarkar.’ “The first reason is our Prime Minister’s fascination for clothes. But farmers and workers don’t appreciate when the Prime Minister wears a suit worth Rs.10 lakh. I don’t think any other Prime Minister before Mr. Modi had done such a thing. This showed his insensitivity to the poor,” he said.
The Congress leader said that the Prime Minister had gone to the U.S., Canada, China, Japan and Nepal. “But I have never seen him visit a poor man’s house and hold his hand,” he said.
Land acquisition law
Before Mr. Modi became Prime Minister he promised minimum support prices for agricultural produce and bonus to formers. But now the Land Acquisition Act which had been in favour of farmers had been destroyed. The new provision allowed the government to acquire land without the consent of the farmers. No social impact assessment would be done, Mr. Rahul said.
He said that the biggest lie the government tells the youth was linking the make in India campaign with job creation.
Corruption
Mr. Gandhi ridiculed Mr. Modi for claiming that he had rid the country of corruption. “But taking away the farmers land was the biggest corruption. This is because the Prime Minister wants to reward his friends who had supported him in the Lok Sabha election campaign. He cannot betray them, but can betray the farmers,”
He said that Centre had not appointed a Chief Information Commissioner and a Central Vigilance Commissioner. “Appoint them and we will see the corruption charges against the government,” he said.
He also blamed the Modi government for spiralling prices of fuel products and essential commodities. “But the Prime Minister says prices have come down. May be he is talking about prices abroad. He does not know what is happening in this country,” Mr. Gandhi said.