Modi manipulating job statistics: Cong

Congress on Sunday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of hoodwinking the country by playing with statistics on job creation and claimed that he wants people to believe his “failure” to follow through on his promises as “achhe din”.

Reacting to an interview of the Prime Minister, Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said Modi was asked to point out three big achievements of his Government but he “refused to enumerate” them. “He said he can’t. That is the only honest admission in these interviews. He could not speak about his three achievements even after four years in power. He is the Prime Minister, he cannot hoodwink the country like this. Do not play with statistics,” Khera said at AICC Press briefing.

He said the Modi Government has no major achievement to show to people even though it is just nine months short of its five-year term. And the Prime Minister has given himself an extension of 48 more months by pushing the deadline to deliver the projects by 2022, he added. The Congress claimed that there is a difference of opinion among the Union Cabinet members, pointing out that while the Prime Minister says his Government has given jobs to one crore people, his Cabinet Minister Nitin Gadkari says there is no job.

Responding to reporters’ questions on an agitation by Marathas for reservation in Maharashtra last week, Gadkari had said that reservation will not guarantee employment as jobs are shrinking.

Quoting international agencies CMIE, the Congress said it is now being said that 1.26 crore people lost their jobs after sudden demonetisation of high-value currency in November 2016. The party said the ILO data has said 77 per cent Indian people would either loose or would be at the verge of loosing jobs by 2019. “PM never challenged the data,” Khera said. He alleged that the Government having failed to deliver on its main schemes such as ‘Swachch Bharat’ has pushed the deadline wand wants people to believe that its failures are the “achhe din” the BJP had promised to people during its 2014 election campaign.

Targeting the Centre on the 2015 deal to purchase 36 Rafale fighter jets from France, Congress also accused the Modi Government of ignoring the national interest and catering only to its self-interest.

“Rafale is a scam and the Government is in scam. Indians feel deprived while the BJP ensured that crony capitalism thrived. Instead of protecting India’s interest we have the Modi Sarkar protecting their self-interests,” Congress spokesperson Priyanka Chaturvedi said in a statement. Chaturvedi demanded an explanation on why an extra amount of Rs 41,205 crore of the public money is being paid for the jets. She claimed that by announcing the deal in 2015, Modi had violated the mandatory “Defence Procurement Procedure”.