New Delhi: Lifting the bar on government officials participating in RSS activities was an indication that the “self-delusional” Narendra Modi government had not drawn the right lessons from the BJP’s “significant decline” in the Lok Sabha elections, Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) chairperson Sonia Gandhi said Wednesday.
Addressing a meeting of the CPP in Parliament, the former Congress president also remarked on the Supreme Court’s stay on directives by the BJP-led Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand governments that shops along the route taken by kanwariyas must display the names of owners and staff prominently. The court intervened at the “right time”, she said.
“We would have hoped that the Modi government would draw the right lessons from their significant decline in the Lok Sabha elections. Instead, they are persisting with their policy of dividing communities and spreading an atmosphere of fear and animosity,” Sonia said.
She added: “Fortunately, the Supreme Court intervened at the right time. But this can only be a temporary respite. Look at how rules have been suddenly changed to permit the bureaucracy to participate in the activities of the RSS. It calls itself a cultural organisation but the whole world knows that it is the BJP’s political and ideological base.”
In her speech, Sonia cautioned Congress MPs, saying the party must not become “complacent and overconfident” just because the mahaul (public mood) was in its favour but work with a sense of purpose to “sustain the momentum and goodwill”.
The Congress won 99 seats in the elections, improving its tally from 52 in 2019, and 44 in 2014.
“In a few months, elections will be held in four states. We must sustain the momentum and goodwill that was generated for us in the Lok Sabha elections…The mahaul does favour us, but we have to work unitedly with a sense of purpose. I dare say that if we perform well, national politics will undergo a transformation — reflecting the trend that we witnessed in the Lok Sabha elections,” the Congress leader further said.
Assembly elections are due in Maharashtra, Jharkhand and Haryana later this year. The Congress performed well in Maharashtra and Haryana in the Lok Sabha elections, winning 13 and five seats respectively, while it bagged only two in Jharkhand, where it is a part of the ruling alliance, led by the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha.
“We must be present in Parliament regularly, remain vigilant at all times and take our committee assignments seriously,” Sonia, who is a Rajya Sabha MP, said, pointing out the need for strengthening the party’s research support teams that assist MPs.
In her speech in the previous CPP meeting, she had remarked that a stronger Opposition would ensure that Parliament was no longer “muzzled and stifled as it has been over the past 10 years”. She had also said that Modi suffered a “political and moral defeat” in the elections.
‘No intention to hold Census, education worst casualty under Modi govt’
Criticising the annual budget presented last week, Sonia accused the government of ignoring demands of farmers and the youth, saying allocations in a number of vital sectors have “not done justice” to the tasks required to be fulfilled. “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.”
“It is clear that the government has no intention whatsoever to conduct the Census that was last due in 2021. This will prevent us from having an up-to-date estimate of the population of the country, especially of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. 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 added.
Sonia said education has been among the “worst casualties” under the Modi government. Alluding to paper leaks in competitive exams, she said the revelations “have destroyed the faith of lakhs of youth and dealt their future a body blow”.
The professional character and autonomy of organisations like the NCERT, UGC and even of Constitutional bodies like the UPSC have been “all but destroyed”, she alleged.
On the security front, she said terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir that killed many security personnel and civilians made “a mockery of the claims being made by the Modi Government that all is well” in the Union Territory. Manipur, she said “shows no sign of any improvement” even as the “PM travels the world over but steadfastly refuses to go to the state and take the initiative to bring about normalcy”.
(Edited by Tikli Basu)
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