Nagpur: Ruffled by NCP supremo giving ‘clean chit’ to PM Narendra Modi over Rafale deal recently, Congress on Monday claimed that Sharad Pawar had been misquoted by the media.
Addressing a press conference on Monday, Congress national spokesperson Randip Singh Surjewala said, “This thing has been made clear by messages posted by top NCP leaders on social media. Pawar is our ally. He can’t give clean chit to Modi.”
Surjewala quoted TV reports showing former defence minister Pawar saying he had not given a ‘clean chit’ to Modi. “If he (Modi) does not give clarifications, there are bound to be allegations,” the NCP supremo was seen saying.
Even though Congress is terming Rafale deal as the biggest scam ever, the party is not ready to approach the Supreme Court. “We have approached the people’s court, who will give a fitting reply to Modi and BJP,” said Surjewala.
RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat had recently praised Congress and said that his organization did not want ‘Congress-mukt Bharat’. Commenting on this, Surjewala said, “Bhagwat is my elder and I respect him for that. If he thinks Congress’s contribution to the country can’t be forgotten, then I welcome it. Unlike Modi we don’t want ‘BJP-mukt Bharat’. There should be space for all ideologies in the country.”
Pakistan had recently flayed RSS in United Nations. When pointed out that Congress did the same on every platform, Surjewala denied any similarity. “Instead, the ideologies of RSS and Pakistan are is similar as both spread hatred,” he said.
The Congress leader said that Modi was looting public sector banks and distributing the money among his capitalist friends. “RBI report has established the fact that between April 2014 and April 2018, the BJP government has written off Rs3.17 lakh crore of banks. The loan recovery percentage is an appalling 14%. Non-performing assets (NPAs), which were Rs2.63 lakh crore when UPA demitted the office have increased to Rs12 lakh crore,” he added.
The Congress also strongly opposed LIC’s Rs15,000 crore investment in the troubled company IL&FS. Justifying this, Surjewala said, “Some 60% share in IL&FS is held by private sector and 36% by foreign companies. Why should public money be used for saving such a company?”
Earlier, Surjewala compared BJP government with British Raj and spelt out the similarities. He said that Congress Working Committee (CWC) would chalk out a plan in Sewagram on Tuesday to oust the BJP government.
Ashok Chavan, president of Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC), told the media about the schedule of Congress president Rahul Gandhi in Wardha.
