GUWAHATI: Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday claimed the Narendra Modi government destroyed 30,000 jobs every day last year.
“The Prime Minister had promised to this country that every year he would give jobs to two crore youngsters. It was a huge promise. He has been in power for five years and this morning, the job statistics have come out. In 2018, the Narendra Modi government destroyed one crore jobs in India. They did not create jobs but destroyed them. Let me put it differently. Every single day of 2018, Mr Narendra Modi destroyed 30,000 jobs in India,” Gandhi told people at a rally in Manipur capital Imphal.
He added: “This is a scale of his incompetence. It is so absurd. It is so ridiculous that our Prime Minister makes announcement of giving two crore jobs to India and the truth is every day last year, the Prime Minister destroyed 30,000 jobs”.
Taking a swipe at Modi government, he accused it of curtailing the liberty of judiciary.
“Supreme Court judges come out and tell the media we are not being allowed to work… Normally public goes to the judges and says give us justice. And today in India, the Supreme Court is coming to the public and says please give us justice. We are not getting justice. This is Narendra Modi’s governance,” Gandhi said.
He continued in the same vein saying, “BJP president Amit Shah, who makes all these statements about Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016, has got a murder charge against him. Imagine the status that the president of BJP is murder-charged. But, proudly, they send him around the country”.
Attacking Modi further, Gandhi said the PM had destroyed the small scale and mediocre traders through demonetisation.
“He (PM) got up one morning some time back and he decided he wants to demonetize currency notes of Rs.500 and Rs.1,000 denominations. At 8pm, he says I don’t like these notes and so, I am banning these. He destroyed small scale and mediocre traders. He does it laughing. He gets fun. People’s lives are ruined and families devastated,” Gandhi said.
He slammed the Modi government also for allegedly “imposing” people with background in the RSS on higher educational institutes.
They imposed a vice chancellor (VC), who knows nothing about education and a completely mediocre and incompetent man, on Manipur University. They did it because he knows how to put on shorts and hold a lathi. He knows how to go to a shakha in the morning and spread hatred. That is the qualification of a vice chancellor in India today, Gandhi said continuing with his tirade. He said he was glad the people of Manipur had stood up against the VC and removed him.
“India is not a hateful place. India is not a country of hatred. India is a country of love and affection and unity. India is a country of carrying everybody together. Everybody understood that Mr Narendra Modi is a messenger of hatred. Mr Narendra Modi spreads hatred in the country. Wherever he goes, he has something nasty to say. Wherever he goes, he divides people. He will say something to disturb or hurt people’s sentiments,” the Congress president alleged.
He promised that the Congress would keep opposing the Citizenship Bill and not allow it to be passed in Parliament.
“We defended the Northeast in the Rajya Sabha. We did not allow the Citizenship Amendment Bill to be passed. I am committing to you over here that the Congress party is going to defend your culture, language and history. Congress will stand with you and we will ensure the Bill doesn’t become law. We will fight it in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. If we have to, we will fight on the streets with you but we are never going to allow this Bill to be passed. They don’t understand every state has a voice, a history and a passion. India is all states put together. India is not one idea that you impose from top. India is not Nagpur,” Gandhi said.
He promised that if the Congress is voted to power, it would restore special status to Northeast and the North East Industrial Policy.
“We will give the best institutes. I am committed to the idea of Look East. I want to make the Look East Policy a reality. I want to make Manipur and Northeast a centre for job creation and manufacturing. I want to turn it into a bridge, a historic bridge between Asia and India,” Gandhi added.