"Propaganda": Congress Dismisses PM's Lok Sabha Speech

Hitting back at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Congress on Monday accused him of mocking the misery of people who lost their lives and livelihood in the COVID-19 pandemic and dismissed his claims of economic gains as "propaganda".

Congress general secretary and chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala claimed a clear message has come from the House today that if people want relief from "severe unemployment, extreme inflation, falling incomes and extreme poverty", then the BJP "will have to be defeated" in the elections.

He was reacting after the prime minister launched a scathing attack on the opposition party while replying to the debate on the motion of thanks on the president's address in Lok Sabha and said the country has set an example with the way it handled the pandemic.

There was a lot of "propaganda in the House today" about India being the fastest growing economy, but the fact remains that the rich have grown richer and 84 per cent of households have lost their incomes, Mr Surjewala alleged.

"Those pushing workers and their families into the whirlpool of misery due to the lockdown, instead of apologising are now questioning the 'helping hands'," he said after the prime minister alleged that the Congress instigated people to come out during the lockdown leading to the spread of the pandemic. "Lakhs of people lost their loved ones due to the incompetence of the government, but their pain was shamelessly laughed at in Parliament today. It will be remembered," Mr Surjewala said.

The Congress leader said Parliament should have talked about "12 crore jobs gone, 23 crore helpless poor, death of 700 farmers, the income of farmers remaining at Rs 27 per day, 84 per cent households having reduced incomes, the highest inflation in 30 years, Rs 40-60 lakh compensation to those who died of Corona".

"But the ego is still waiting to lose the election," he said.

He accused the government of being "a slave of a handful of the rich".

"The economy is divided into the rich and the poor. The wealth of the 142 rich increased from Rs 23,14,000 crore to Rs 53,16,000 crore and the income of 84 percent households lost their incomes," he said. Taking a dig at the prime minister, Mr Surjewala said "the king gave the slogan of 'Make in India' on February 13, 2016 and promised to make manufacturing 25 percent of GDP by 2022".

He has repeated it again today, the Congress leader said.

"But, the reality is that manufacturing decreased from 17 percent of GDP in 2015-16 to 14 percent in 2020-21. But yes, imports from China grew 46 percent in one year from USD 66 billion to USD 97 billion," he said in a series of tweets in Hindi.

"A clear message has come from the house today - 'If we lose a single election, then the whole 'eco system' will work'... The meaning is clear...If you want relief from severe unemployment, extreme inflation, falling incomes and extreme poverty, then they will have to be defeated in elections – only then will the ecosystem work," Surjewala said using the hashtag "ModiHaiToMumkinHai". Prime Minister Modi on Monday hit out at the Congress, accusing the party of making "divide and rule" policy its character like the British and becoming the "leader of the tukde-tukde gang".

PM Modi said the Congress' "arrogance" has not gone away despite multiple electoral defeats and its "misdeeds" seem to indicate that it has made up its mind not to come to power for the next 100 years.

He also tore into the Congress for questioning his government's 'Make in India' initiative and accused the party of instigating separatism and indulging in "blind opposition".