The Congress said on Friday that the Narendra Modi government’s policies had created unprecedented rural distress while the super-rich were getting richer, alleging that the excuse of a resource crunch was being peddled only to deny the poor their rights.
Addressing a meeting in Chhattisgarh, party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra taunted Prime Minister Modi, saying: “Aapki aan-baan aur shaan ke liye paisa hai, gareeb ke liye nahin hai (There is money for your vanity projects and extraneous expenses, but no money for the poor). You can’t even accept the demand of government employees for a return to the old pension scheme.”
Priyanka explained: “Modi purchased two aircraft, Rs 8,000 crore each, for himself. He built a new Parliament which cost Rs 20,000 crore (the Central Vista project).”
Priyanka added: “Now a Yashobhumi hall has been built for Rs 27,000 crore. But there is no money for the poor. Farmers are earning Rs 27 per day whereas his friend Adani earns Rs 1,600 crore every day. They brag about free ration for the poor. During Congress rule, the poor got ration for Rs 60 and a gas cylinder cost only Rs 425. So, both ration and cooking for Rs 485. Now a cylinder alone costs Rs 1,100.”
Pointing to the abnormal rise in the demand for jobs under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said: “Instead of addressing the economic distress in rural areas, the Prime Minister is hiding his failures by attacking the Congress in election-bound states. People are seeking MGNREGA jobs because of depleting household incomes and rising prices of essential commodities.”
Kharge said only 4 per cent of the MGNREGA funds meant for this year was left, adding: “The country should remember that the Modi government has cut down on budgetary allocation for the rural job-guarantee scheme by 33 per cent. Funds for some Opposition-ruled states are pending. The Prime Minister can keep abusing the Congress, but must not attack the poor.”
Congress communications chief Jairam Ramesh said in a detailed statement: “We have been constantly saying that the chasm between the rich and the poor is increasing constantly under Modi. Several reports have confirmed that the rich are becoming richer and the poor are getting poorer. Recent income tax data shows that 59 lakh people earning Rs 5 lakh a month have fallen below that category in the last four years. Domestic savings have hit the lowest in the last four years. Financial obligations and personal loans have doubled.”
Ramesh said a Marcellus Investment Managers report had found that India’s top 20 companies corner 80 per cent of the total profits. During the pandemic, the number of billionaires went up by 15 per cent, the Congress leader pointed out.
While the sales of goods used by the common man like two-wheelers, Maruti cars, basic shoes and clothes have witnessed a marginal growth of 5-10 per cent, the sales of luxury items like BMW cars, Royal Enfield bikes and high-end apparel have increased by 15-20 per cent, he said. The top 1 per cent rich people control 41 per cent of the total wealth, which is very high in comparison with most other countries, Ramesh said.
