The Congress on Sunday flagged the spike in suicides by people from multiple backgrounds and blamed it on Narendra Modi’s policies, trying to counter the accolades showered on the Prime Minister at the BJP national executive meeting.

“A government that rode to power touting ‘achchhe din’ has done nothing but forced people into suicidal hopelessness,” Congress communications chief Randeep Surjewala said.

“The latest report of the National Crime Records Bureau is frightening. The suicide figures underline an unprecedented tragedy that is ruining India. Hapless citizens, (crushed) by extreme apathy and insensitivity of the government, are losing hope and taking their own lives.”

Surjewala said suicides had increased significantly among farmers, day labourers, jobless youths, housewives and students and blamed the trend on what he said was Modi’s misgovernance.

Some 958,275 Indians committed suicide between 2014 and 2020, Surjewala said, with a 55 per cent rise in suicides among students, 58 per cent among jobless youths and over 130 per cent among farmers, labourers and day labourers.

Some 193,795 day labourers had committed suicide — “a horrendous 139.37 per cent increase” since 2014, he said.

“An Oxfam report reveals that while the hundred richest Indians had increased their wealth by Rs 13 lakh crore, over 12 crore Indians lost their jobs,” Surjewala said.

“Not only this, the RBI in its report underlines that policies like demonetisation and a flawed GST implementation severely affected the small and medium enterprises in the unorganised sector.”

Surjewala alleged the central government was unaffected by the people’s misery, saying this was reflected in its apathy towards the spiralling unemployment and rise in fuel prices.

Fuel price war

A political battle is unfolding on the petro price front, with Punjab’s Congress government cutting VAT on petrol by Rs 10 and that on diesel by Rs 5 to steal the thunder from the BJP-ruled states that have reduced fuel taxes by Rs 2 or less.

The competition among the states was triggered by the Centre’s reduction of excise duties on petrol and diesel by Rs 10 and Rs 5.

Punjab chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi said his government’s was the biggest ever reduction of petrol and diesel taxes by any state.

The Congress high command has nudged the Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh governments to cut fuel taxes too.

Former minister Jairam Ramesh, however, tweeted: “In this Centre vs states debate on petroleum taxes, a key fact has been missed. In 2014/15, the Centre’s collection from such taxes was only 0.79 times that of all the states combined. In 2020/21, this became 1.93 times! This means the Centre has greater room to cut such taxes than (the) states.”

China punch

To the BJP’s praise of Modi at the national executive meeting, the Congress had just one response: “Come clean on China.”

“The pseudo-nationalists must open their mouth and speak the truth on the Chinese aggression. Clarify on the clean chit given by the Prime Minister,” party spokesperson Pawan Khera said.

“Government of India remained silent and trade with China increased. No concern over India’s sovereignty. China is making moves in the neighbourhood against our strategic interests but the government is silent.”

Four days after the June 15, 2020, clash at the Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh killed 20 Indian soldiers and four Chinese troops, Modi had asserted that no one had intruded into Indian territory, allowing Beijing to dismiss the allegations of border transgressions.

Khera also referred to a Pentagon report that suggests the Chinese have built a village inside Arunachal Pradesh.

“In the last 18 months, we have seen several transgressions by China, from Ladakh to Uttarakhand. The Pentagon report on the village inside Arunachal is known to all,” he said.

“The GoC, Eastern Command, now says China is building infrastructure in the Chumbi valley which directly affects the Siliguri corridor, bringing the Northeast into peril. The country has paid a massive price for the biggest blunder of the Prime Minister (the no-intrusion statement). The only answer the nation wants from the BJP national executive is on the Prime Minister’s blunder.”