Will launch public campaign to 'expose' Modi government on corruption issue: Congress Working Committee

The meeting was attended by top party leaders including former prime minister Manmohan Singh, A K Antony, Ghulam Nabi Aza, Mallikarjun Kharge, Ahmed Patel and Ashok Gehlot.

Published: 04th August 2018 06:04 PM  |   Last Updated: 04th August 2018 06:13 PM   |  A+A-

Congress_Meeting_

Congress president Rahul Gandhi, senior party leaders Ashoka Gehlot and Ghulam Nabi Azad and Former PM Manmohan Singh at Congress Working Committee meeting in New Delhi on Saturday. | (Photo | Shekhar Yadav/ EPS)

By PTI

NEW DELHI: The Congress today decided to take on the Narendra Modi Government on the issue of corruption by launching a public campaign that will highlight the bank scam, Rafale deal and the "bad" state of the economy.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the Congress Working Committee chaired by party chief Rahul Gandhi where the leaders also chalked out a strategy on the crucial issue of Assam's National Register of Citizens (NRC).

The meeting of the working committee, the party's highest decision making body, was attended by top party leaders including former prime minister Manmohan Singh, A K Antony, Ghulam Nabi Aza, Mallikarjun Kharge, Ahmed Patel and Ashok Gehlot.

However, former party president Sonia Gandhi was unable to attend the meeting.

This is the second meeting of the newly constituted CWC under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi.

One of the highlights of today’s CWC meeting, was Mr Antony’s brilliant description of the Rafale robbery: 130,000 Cr. stolen from the people of India and given to a friend who was 45,000 crore in debt. #RafaleScam

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) August 4, 2018 

The opposition party decided to go all out in highlighting the issue of corruption both inside and outside Parliament.

Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said after the meeting that the party will launch a public campaign or 'Jan Andolan, details of which will be chalked out in the coming days in consultation with state units and leaders.

"The CWC met today. As a team, we discussed the political situation in the country and the huge opportunity for the Congress to highlight issues of corruption and failure of the government to provide jobs to our youth. Thank you to all those who attended today's meeting," Gandhi said on Twitter.

The party intends to corner the government on media reports which quoted Antiguan authorities as saying that Indian agencies had no adverse information against Mehul Choksi when the Caribbean country conducted a background check on the PNB scam accused before granting him citizenship in 2017.

The Congress has alleged that it had "exposed the complicity and connivance" of the Modi government in the escape of the fugitive billionaire.

On the Rafale deal, Surjewala said neither the Prime Minister nor the Defence Minister are disclosing the price of the jets purchased by this government and claimed that the price fixed during UPA was Rs 526 crore against Rs 1,676 crore for the jets purchased under NDA, that has caused a loss of Rs 48,000 crore to the exchequer.

Taking a cautious stand on the National Register of Citizens exercise in Assam, Surjewala said after the meeting that the NRC was "Congress' baby" and was initiated as a consequence of the Assam accord signed by late prime minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1985 and the party will ensure that no Indian citizen is left out of it.

"The NRC is a baby of the Congress party and it will ensure that no Indian citizens is deprived of his legitimate right," he said.

Surjewala also pointed out figures claiming that while the Congress-led UPA government from 2005 to 2013 had deported 82,728 foreigners (Bangladeshis), the NDA government has only deported only 1,822 foreign nationals in the last four years.

He was citing figures shared by the Modi government in Parliament.

"Every Indian citizen should get justice and foreigners should be identified," he said.

Stay up to date on all the latest Nation news with The New Indian Express App. Download now

Comments

Disclaimer : We respect your thoughts and views! But we need to be judicious while moderating your comments. All the comments will be moderated by the newindianexpress.com editorial. Abstain from posting comments that are obscene, defamatory or inflammatory, and do not indulge in personal attacks. Try to avoid outside hyperlinks inside the comment. Help us delete comments that do not follow these guidelines.

The views expressed in comments published on newindianexpress.com are those of the comment writers alone. They do not represent the views or opinions of newindianexpress.com or its staff, nor do they represent the views or opinions of The New Indian Express Group, or any entity of, or affiliated with, The New Indian Express Group. newindianexpress.com reserves the right to take any or all comments down at any time.