Congress leader Randeep Surjewala alleged that there was a lot of “propaganda in the House today” about India being the fastest-growing economy.
Congress dismisses the prime minister’s Lok Sabha speech, and Congress leader Randeep Surjewala blamed the government for being “a slave of a handful of the rich.
Hitting back at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Congress on Monday charged the prime minister with 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 said this in reaction to the prime minister throwing taunting attacks on the opposition party while replying to the debate on the motion of thanks at 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 percent of households have lost their incomes, Mr. Surjewala said.
“Those pushing workers and their families into the whirlpool of misery due to the lockdown, instead of apologizing are now questioning the ‘helping hands,” he said after the prime minister alleged that the Congress provoked 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 crores helpless poor, death of 700 farmers, the income of farmers remaining at ₹ 27 per day, 84 percent households having reduced incomes, the highest inflation in 30 years, ₹ 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” and 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.
Forgotten Story of the Horrors Migrants Faced in the Summer of 2020
On the evening of 24 March 2020, the Prime Minister ordered a nationwide lockdown for 21 days, limiting the movement of the entire 1.38 billion (138 crore) population of India as a preventive measure against the COVID-19 pandemic in India.
During this time, many migrant workers especially those working in factories were thrown out of their dwelling places, and many were out on the streets. Finding no place to live, with no money and looming fears of no food, they embarked on journeys walking back miles home to their hometowns. Since there were no buses, nor trains plying, walking home was the only way.
However, while walking out on the streets, they were severely beaten and douched with disinfectants designed for inanimate objects.
Forty-five million poor migrants trudged by foot en route heated tarred roads in daytime shimmering heat and tormenting nights with myriads of mosquitoes and insects attacking them. Thirsty, famished, weak, the entire venture was a struggle.
Reports say that many got killed by vehicles on roads. A family slept on railways tracks without thinking that the trains would restart, and lost their lives that night. They were blamed for sleeping on the tracks, but when they got no help or drop back home, can they be blamed? Parents died and left their children orphaned and crying as they staggered along.
During the initial stages of the lock-down, there was no offer of transport given to them by the Central Government as they lugged back home on foot. Reports say that hundreds of poor migrants were killed by road accidents and many children were orphaned. Also when reached their villages, due to COVID-19, many were not allowed to enter because of the fear of the spread of the pandemic.
While the prime minister blamed Congress for giving ticket money for migrants to go home, thus enabling the spread of the pandemic, the Congress stepped in to help as there were no provisions for the people staying in cities and this only occurred after the central government restarted the railways. In fact, the trains had no food or water and some even died while traveling.
“The Indian Railways’ data reveals that 1,033 trains for migrant workers were run from Gujarat, while 817 Shramik trains were operated from Maharashtra,” Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MP Supriya Sule said and on February 8 criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi for accusing the Opposition of inciting migrants to flee from Mumbai during the COVID-19 lockdown, and claimed more trains were operated from Gujarat than Maharashtra for migrant workers during the pandemic-related curbs.