NEW DELHI: The Congress on Saturday accused the Modi government of helping the rich industrialists and waiving off bad loans of corporates and alleged that it has upgraded facilities at the Jamnagar airport using the tax-payer's money only to facilitate the guests of a rich industrialist.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh alleged that the Jamnagar airport in Gujarat is near the Pakistan border and is sensitive to defence concerns.
He also alleged that even while the government is seen standing with the rich, it is demolishing houses of the poor and farmers seeking a minimum support price (MSP) for their produce have to face bullets.
"When it comes to helping out his rich industrialist friends, Prime Minister Modi is willing to do anything," he alleged, claiming that he "has declared the Jamnagar airport an international airport for 10 days".
"He has ordered the doubling of the size of the passenger terminal - with taxpayers' money - just to make life more convenient for the wedding guests.
The Jamnagar airport is close to the Pakistan border, and is sensitive to defence concerns - but the private jets of the wedding guests have even been allowed to use the Indian Air Force 'technical area'," Ramesh alleged in a post on X.
"Of course, this is not a new development. The Prime Minister has spent his whole career in politics helping out his billionaire friends," the Congress leader alleged citing examples in this regard.
He alleged that the government ensured that six out of six airports being privatised went to Adani, allowed two companies to take over 90 per cent of India's airline market and wrote off Rs 14. 5 lakh crore of bad loans by corporates.
"Meanwhile, India's poor get their homes demolished under the 'bulldozer raj' and farmers have to face bullets for demanding adequate MSP for their crops," Ramesh alleged.
He said India's rail passengers, overwhelmingly poor and middle class, "face 10 per cent annual ticket price hikes, see their sleeper seats removed to make way for AC 1st class seats, and have Rs 3,700 crore in senior concessions snatched away from them".
"The priorities are clear: 'Suit-boot-loot-jhoot'," he alleged, using the hashtag "#GareebParVaarPoonjipatiSarkar".
Industrialist Mukesh Ambani's son is getting married in Jamnagar and several guests from abroad are landing there.