New Delhi, May 26
The Congress on Thursday described the two years of the Narendra Modi government as disappointing because it had failed on all fronts, including in reviving the economy.
"This government lives on advertisements. This government has totally failed to revive the economy. Core sector growth is negligible. Rupee is sliding, inflation is very high and job creation is at lowest," senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad told reporters here as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led NDA government completed two years in office.
"It is the two years of disappointment and the big achievements of this government are creation of social tension, provocation by the BJP leaders, unnecessary controversies and mob violence," said Azad who is also the leader of opposition in the Rajya Sabha.
He added that the BJP-led government only renamed the schemes conceived by the previous governments “as it could not envision the new schemesâ€.
“Nirmal Bharat was renamed Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, Planning Commission was renamed NITI Aayog, Indira Aawas Yojana was renamed National Housing Scheme. They only repackaged the old schemes,†Azad said.
He accused the central government of being "consistently inconsistent" in the foreign policy domain.
"The foreign policy of the government is consistently inconsistent vis-a-vis China and Pakistan," Azad said, adding "Pakistani forces had committed as many as 1,000 ceasefire violations in Jammu and Kashmir in the last two years."
He added that "this has never happened before".
"The Gurdaspur attack, the Pathankot airbase attack and many other attacks are examples of their (government's) foreign policy," he said.
Senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal echoed a similar view and demanded to know the reasons for celebrating two years of the Modi government.
“Why this two years of Modi government is being celebrated? What is there to celebrate? Have jobs been created, do farmers get 50 percent profit over and above the input cost, are there no rapes happening in the country? Are our women safe?†Sibal asked.
He said the prime minister had promised 10 crore jobs per year, but job creation (rate) is 1.32 lakh.
“Modiji had said that his government would create two crore jobs per year but records of labour ministry show only 1.34 lakh jobs were created in one year,†Sibal said, adding “The UPA government had produced 12 lakh jobs in 2009â€.
"The Sensex had risen by two percent while rupee has fallen by sixteen percent in these two years," Sibal said, adding "Prime Minister Modi gives a 'bhashan' every 45 hours, but he has not answered a single question."
Leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge said that Modi had rigorously toured outside the country but could not spare time to visit the houses of the farmers who had committed suicide during his rule.
"There were incidence of violence in Jawaharlal Nehru University, National Institute of Technology-Srinagar and Hyderabad Central University but the prime minister did not try to solve the issues related to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and minorities," Kharge said.
He asserted that the benefit of the fall in crude oil prices could not be delivered to the poor and common people as the oil companies were busy in swelling their coffers.
Party spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said that the Modi government could not bring relief to the drought-affected areas.
"Ponds are dry. People are eating rotis made from grass in Bundelkhand. Farmers are committing suicide but Modi government could not bring relief to them," Surjewala said.
He asserted that BJP ministers and MPs were busy in portraying Modi as "god or a messiah rather than delivering on their promises".
