NEW DELHI: Launching a broadside against the Union Budget presented by the Modi 3.0 government, Rajya Sabha MP and Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday said that instead of taking lessons from the Lok Sabha election results, the government is persisting with the policy of dividing communities and spreading fear and animosity.
Coming down heavily on the Centre for the inordinate delay in conducting the decadal Census, the former Congress President said that it would prevent the government from having an up-to-date estimate of the population of the country, especially of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes.
“It is clear that the government has no intention whatsoever to conduct the Census that was last due in 2021. It also means that at least 12 crore of our citizens are denied the benefit of the National Food Security Act of 2013 – now repackaged as PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana,” she said.
Addressing the Congress Parliamentary Party meeting, Sonia Gandhi accused the government of changing rules to permit the bureaucracy to participate in the activities of the RSS.
“We would have hoped that the Modi government would draw the right lessons from their significant decline in the Lok Sabha elections. Instead, they persist with their policy of dividing communities and spreading fear and animosity,” she said.
“Fortunately, the Supreme Court intervened at the right time. But this can only be a temporary respite. Look at how the rules have been suddenly changed to permit the bureaucracy to participate in the activities of the RSS,” she said adding that though RSS calls itself a cultural organization, the whole world knows that it is BJP’s political and ideological base.
The veteran leader also asked party members not to become complacent and over-confident given the upcoming assembly elections in four states. “We must sustain the momentum and goodwill that had been generated for us in the Lok Sabha elections. The ‘mahaul’ does favor us, but we have to work unitedly with a sense of purpose. I dare say that if we perform well, reflecting the trend that we witnessed in the Lok Sabha elections, national politics will undergo transformation.
The Congress leader also tore into the Modi government’s failure to address the Manipur issue and the terrorist attacks in Jammu and Kashmir.
“There is deeply disturbing news on national security issues. Over the past few weeks, there have been at least eleven terror attacks in the Jammu region alone. There have been similar attacks in the Valley as well. Security personnel and a large number of civilians have lost their lives. This makes a mockery of the claims being made by the Modi government is all in well in J&K,” she said.
Gandhi further said that the situation in Manipur shows no sign of improvement. “The PM travels the world over, but steadfastly refuses to go to the state and take the initiative to bring about normalcy,” she added..
On the Union Budget, she said that there is widespread disappointment despite efforts of the PM and FM to talk up the Budget and its so-called accomplishments. The Budget has neglected the pressing demands of farmers, and youth, and the allocations in many vital sectors have not done justice to the tasks required to be fulfilled, she stressed.
“The Union government, especially its top leadership, continues to be self-delusional as crores of families across the country are devastated by mounting unemployment and price rise,” said Gandhi.
Referring to the alleged irregularities in NEET and other NTA-conducted examinations, she said that education has been amongst the worst casualties in the past years. “Instead of taking the nation forward, the entire educational system is being shown up as flawed and manipulated. The exposure of how competitive examinations have been allowed has destroyed the faith of lakhs of youth and dealt their future a body blow. The professional character and autonomy of organizations like the NCERT, UGC, and even of Constitutional bodies like the UPSC has been all but destroyed,” she said.
She also congratulated both the LoPs and the Congress MPs who expressed the party’s views forcefully during the debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address. “Over the last few days, many of you have very effectively brought out the Budget’s many inadequacies,” she added.
The meeting also paid condolences to the families bereaved by the horrendous calamity that has overtaken Wayanad. “The scale of devastation has been staggering. Our colleagues in the state have mobilized themselves to provide all assistance. There have been huge floods in other parts of the country as well and we extend our sympathies to the affected families. Apart from natural disasters, our people continue to lose their lives in railway accidents that are caused by mismanagement. Our thoughts are with these victims as well,” said Gandhi.