Shillong, May 27: The Congress has posted 9 questions after the Narendra Modi-led government completed 9 years in office.
Addressing a press conference in the presence of AICC media coordinator and Assam Pradesh Congress Committee Vice President Bobbeeta Sharma posed the queries.
Sanjay Das, General Secretary Meghalaya PCC, Charles Marngar MLA & Secretary Meghalaya PCC and Manuel Badwar Secretary Meghalaya PCC were present.
“The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has completed 9 years in office. These 9 years of Sri Narendra Modi led BJP Government has exposed the lies of the BJP. The people of India remembers very well the lofty promises made by Mr Modi – the promise of Ache Din, 15 lakh in bank accounts of every citizen of India, 2 crore jobs every year to unemployed youths and many more. The people of India believed him. Trusted him. But Mr Modi has betrayed this trust that people had placed on him. Instead his Government has been replete with corruption, crony capitalism, sky rocketing price rise, unemployment and continued attack on democratic principles of our country”, she said.
9 years, nine questions- 9 Saal 9 Sawal are below (unedited)
1. Economy
Why are inflation and unemployment skyrocketing in India? Why have the rich become richer and the poor become poorer? Why is public property being sold to PM Modi’s friends, even as economic disparities. are increasing?
2. Agriculture and farmers
Why is it that the agreements made with farmers while repealing the three black farm laws have not been honoured? Why has MSP not been legally guaranteed? Why did farmers’ incomes not double over the last nine years?Your effort to hand agriculture over to its chosen cronies was defeated by a mass farmer movement. Yet your government continues to block key farmer demands on remunerative pricing of crops. The average income of a farmer is Rs 27/day, while GST on agriculture items has burdened our annadatas even as subsidies on items like fertilisers have been cut.
3. Corruption and cronisym
Why are you putting people’s hard-earned savings in LIC and SBI at risk to benefit your friend Adani? Why are you letting thieves escape? Why are you silent on rampant corruption in BJP-ruled states, and why are you letting Indians suffer?
The Modani MegaScam exposed how national assets like LIC and SBI are risking the savings of crores of policyholders and depositors to make investments and loans to risky companies like Adani. The Adani monopoly is contributing to higher prices for electricity and flights, and research shows that the monopolisation of the Indian economy increases inflation. Meanwhile, defaulters and scammers close to you are allowed to flee with their stolen assets and all those who join your party are cleansed by the Modi Washing Machine.
4. China and national security
Why is it that even after your clean chit to China in 2020, they continue to occupy Indian territory? 18 meetings have been held with China, yet why do they refuse to yield Indian territory and instead continue with their aggressive tactics? Your silence on the 1,500 sq km of Indian territory controlled by China since 2020 speaks to your complete failure on the national security front. Even as China becomes more aggressive and makes unreasonable demands on our sovereignty, the government has been sitting idle.
There is no National Security Strategy nine years after your government took office, and defence spending is at a multi-decade low. This-ad hocism leads to disastrous steps like the unpopular Agnipath Scheme which risks weakening our Armed Forces by lowering training standards and threatening unit cohesion.
5. Social harmony
Why are you deliberately using the politics of hatred for electoral gains and fueling an atmosphere of fear in society?
The Citizenship Amendment Act and National Register of Citizens sought to discriminate based on religion, even though citizens of all religions ended up paying the price for the administrative bungle. Members of your party have partaken and aided hate speech and violence against vulnerable sections, which is reflected in statistics of a sharp rise in hate crimes since 2014. While you encourage divisiveness for electoral gain, you are too often silent on the violence that has rampaged through Delhi, Manipur and other places in the country.
6. Social justice
Why is it that your oppressive government is methodically destroying the foundations of social justice? Why are you silent on the atrocities against women, Dalits, SC, ST,OBCs and minorities? Why are you ignoring the demand for a caste census?The rise in atrocities against Dalits of 23% since 2014, after accounting for population growth,is a testament to your two-faced approach. Your refusal to countenance a caste census or to release the results of the 2011 Social Economic and Caste Census show how insincere you are about OBC empowerment. The weakening of the Forest Rights Act shows contempt for the Adivasi community. You have reduced much-needed scholarships for religious minorities.Crimes against women have risen from 3.1 lakh in 2013 to 4.2 lakh in 2021.
7. Democracy and federalism.
Why have you weakened our Constitutional values and democratic institutions in the last nine years? Why are you practising the politics of revenge against Opposition parties and leaders? And why are you using blatant money power to destabilise governments elected by the people?
The undermining of elected governments in Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Manipur using brute force and money power speaks to your respect for democracy. Investigative agencies have been misused, with 95% of CBI and ED cases involving politicians since 2014 being against Opposition leaders. The days that Parliament sits to do business has fallen to record lows, as happened with the Gujarat assembly when you were chief minister.
8. Welfare schemes
Why is it that schemes for the welfare of the poor, needy and tribals are being weakened by cutting their budgets and making restrictive rules?
Despite the critical role that MNREGA and the National Food Security Act played in saving the nation’s poor during the COVID-19 pandemic, you have never truly embraced these essential UPA-era schemes, and even mocked MGNREGA in Parliament. Is this why you have slashed MGNREGA allocations and reduced the number of days? The much-touted Ujjwala Yojana is a failure since very few can afford cooking gas at Rs 1,103/cylinder. Child malnutrition has increased in recent years and false claims of Open Defecation Free districts are belied by obvious realities.
9. COVID-19 mismanagement.
Why is it that despite the tragic deaths of over 40 lakh people due to COVID-19, the Modi government has refused to compensate their families? Why did you suddenly impose a lockdown which forced lakhs of workers to return home, and not provide any support?
Your government ignored early warnings by Shri Rahul Gandhi and then overreacted with the harshest lockdown in the world that caused our quarterly GDP to crash 21%, causing a humanitarian crisis and leaving 4 crore migrants on the streets. It declared premature victory after the first wave and was caught unprepared when the devastating second wave hit India.
The failure to have adequate oxygen, medicines and hospital beds resulted in India having the highest COVID-19 death toll of 47 lakh according to the WHO. Meanwhile your government preferred to fudge data, claiming that no one died due to an oxygen shortage and that it had no information about how many migrants, police personnel and frontline health workers died in the pandemic.
