100 days of Modi govt: 'Where are the Acche Din?', asks Congress
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- Last Updated: Thursday, 22 January 2015 21:03
100 days of Modi govt: 'Where are the Acche Din?', asks Congress
New Delhi: Launching a scathing attack on the Narendra Modi government, the Congress questioned the 'acche din' (good days) promised by the BJP, saying that though 100 days is a small period, but this was the promise made by the party to win elections.
Addressing a press conference at the AICC headquarters, Tuesday, party spokesperson Anand Sharma said, “We are holding this press conference to talk about promises made by Modi government, and what it has achieved in 100 days.”
Sharma targeted the NDA government on a range of issues like economy, price rise, foreign policy and also alleged that there has been a systematic subversion of institutions after the new government came to power. “They talked about acche din (good days) but acchi baat nahi ho rahi (no good is being said), acche kaam nahi ho rahi hain (good deeds are not being done), acche din came only for the BJP,” he said.
The Congress leader said that the Modi government is not taking any responsibility and is only resorting to blaming the previous UPA government for its failures. He said that the UPA government was targeted for alleged scams and now after 100 days, the NDA government should tell the country which those scams were. “There was no truth in that,” he said.
Questioning the Modi government's resolve on the black money issue, he said, “Nation deserves to know what is actually happening in the black money issue. They formed an SIT but what did the SIT do?”. Attacking the BJP on the issue, Sharma said, “The then BJP president Shri Rajnath Singh gave a deadline of 100 days to bring black money back, after coming to power....They said Rs 85 lakh crore is lying in Swiss banks,” and now Finance Minister Arun Jaitely says he has no information on black money.
Questioning the Prime Minister on the issue of propriety, Sharma alleged that several ministers in his Cabinet have criminal charges against him. “18 ministers of the present government have serious criminal charges against them, and it is for the PM to keep a check,” he said, while also alleging that there is sense of insecurity among minorities in the country.
The Congress leader also accused the current government of undermining institutions. He said that there has been a systemic subversion of institutions which are the bedrock of the Indian democracy and pointed out issues like the government's stand against the appointment of Leader of Opposition, Gopal Subramanium appointee issue and dismissal of Planning Commission.
Referring to the row over appointments in Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR), Sharma hit out at the Modi government for what he called as an “attempt to change the history of India".
The issue of autonomy to institutes of excellence like the IITs and IIMs was also raised by the Congress. Taking a dig at PM Modi for his mantra of 'minimum government, maximum governance', Sharma said that 'minimum governance' seems to have meant that there be centralisation of power and undermining the Cabinet system of decision making in the government.
“There is silent shift to presidential form (of governance), where only one individual and person matters,” he said, while also alleging that ministers in Modi cabinet “have been cut to size”.
Sharma also alleged that senior bureaucrats, who had served under the UPA government, are being targeted by the new dispensation. On the economic front, Sharma chided the Modi government as lacking courtesy to thank the UPA government for the bold steps it took leading to a rebound in the Indian economy.
Sharma hit out at PM Modi for he what he called attempts to take credit for the GDP growth rate of 5.7% in Q4 of the last fiscal and pointed out that Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council under Manmohan Singh, the RBI and then Finance Minister P Chidambaram had predicted a growth rate of around 5.5% as early as January-February.
“A quarter is of 90 days, 55 days were under UPA , and BJP was ruling in 35 days. So they raised GDP to 5.7% in 35 days? ,” he said. He also blamed the NDA government for rising prices of essential commodities.
With regards to Modi's Japan visit, Sharma said much of the ground work was done by the UPA government and alleged that the new government's foreign policy is directionless and opaque. “We have raised important issues in Parliament, we have played a role of a constructive opposition in these 100 days,” Sharma said.
src:zeenews