Mumbai: Deputy leader of opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Anand Sharma, on Monday voiced concerns over the Narendra Modi government’s move to celebrate the completion of three years in office.
Striking farmers
Addressing a press conference, Mr. Sharma said, “The government should direct its attention towards the grief-stricken farmers, who are on a strike, or the youngsters who don’t have a job. It is the duty of the nation to ask and the government’s responsibility to answer to what happened to the tall promises they had made prior to the 2014 elections.”
Mr. Sharma alleged that the Modi government is trying to shut down defence PSUs. “Stakes in PSUs are being sold. No country is able to defend itself without being able to produce good quality weapons. The Congress pledges to expose this agenda of the BJP.”
Ad expenses
About the funds the government is spending to advertise Mr. Modi as a figure, the Congress leader said, “The government has no right to use the money from public fund to invest in advertising. The PM has spent between ₹1,500 and ₹2,000 crore on the publicity of his three years in power. You see his photos everywhere.”
Slamming the government on job creation and economy, Mr. Sharma demanded that the government publish the names of all those to whom it has provided jobs in the last three years. “We also demand a white paper on the economy. The Centre should come out with comparative GDP figures of the last 10 years when the UPA was in power as per the old and new series.”
Economy slowing down
“All this will prove that the economy is not galloping as claimed, but is slowing down,” he said. The Prime Minister has no proper roadmap to take the economy forward, and economists all over the world have started questioning the fudging of economic data by the BJP-led government.
“The PM owes an apology for this embarrassment,” the Congress leader said. India saw a national investment rate of 34.8% under the UPA, which has come down to 26.9%.