Congress badly exposed in front of people, says PM Modi
NEW DELHI, Nov 1: The BJP Friday demanded Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge’s apology following the Congress president’s advise that his party’s state units should make only those promises that are fiscally doable, a statement seen by many as an acknowledgment of financial constraints that some of its guarantees face in states.
BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad asked mockingly if Kharge has given his first “gyan” to Gandhi, noting the former Congress president often boasts of “khata khat” (immediate) transfer of money to different population segments during state and national elections in the case of his party coming to power.
Kharge has realised that the Congress should not make reckless announcements, the former law minister told reporters, claiming that the party-run governments in states like Karnataka, Telangana and Himachal Pradesh are faced with financial hardships in fulfilling the guarantees offered to people.
In Himachal Pradesh, Congress ministers were asked to not take salary and even a toilet tax was introduced, which was withdrawn after protests, he added.
In Karnataka, the state government is reviewing its promise for free bus rides to women, Prasad added.
Hitting out at the Congress, he said it is the party’s history of fooling voters by making them false promises, and recalled the “garibi hatao” slogan given by Indira Gandhi during the 1971 polls.
Unlike the Congress, he claimed, the BJP makes only those promises which are guided by “fiscal prudence”. The party had promised to transfer Rs 6,000 annually to 11 crore farmers, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been fulfilling it with a click of button.
Whether it is giving free grains to 80 crore people or welfare measures for women in different states, the BJP has been fulfilling them, Prasad added.
Modi slams Congress
Prime Minister Narendra Modi Friday said the Congress stands “badly exposed” in front of people for promising to them what the party knows it will never be able to deliver.
Modi launched a fierce attack on the opposition party as he seized on its president Mallikarjun Kharge’s comments that the Congress’ state units should make promises that are properly budgeted and do not lead to financial troubles amid reports of fiscal problems the party-ruled states are facing in keeping some of their pre-poll announcements.
The prime minister said, “The Congress party is realising the hard way that making unreal promises is easy but implementing them properly is tough or impossible. Campaign after campaign they promise things to the people which they also know they will never be able to deliver. Now, they stand badly exposed in front of the people!” He said the developmental trajectory and fiscal health in the Congress-ruled states of Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka and Telangana is turning from bad to worse.
People will have to be vigilant against the Congress-sponsored culture of fake promises, he said. “We saw recently how the people of Haryana rejected their lies and preferred a government that is stable, progress-oriented and action-driven.” There is a growing realisation across India that a vote for the Congress is a vote for non-governance, poor economics and unparalleled loot, the prime minister said in a series of posts on X with the hashtag “fake promises of Congress”.
He said the “so-called guarantees” of the Congress lie unfulfilled, which is a “terrible deceit” upon the people of these states.
Modi added that the victims of such politics are the poor, youngsters, farmers and women who are not only denied the benefits of these promises but also see their existing schemes diluted.
In Karnataka, the Congress is busier in intra-party politics and loot instead of even bothering to deliver on development. Not only that, they are also going to roll back existing schemes, Modi said. In Himachal Pradesh, he added, salaries of government employees are not paid on time and Telangana farmers are waiting for the waiver they were promised.(PTI)