Four Years of Modi Government: From job crisis to rising fuel prices, here's how opposition slammed BJP regime
From corruption to failed implementation of plans, the opposition parties left no stone unturned in criticising the government.
As the Narendra Modi-goverment completed four years in office on Saturday, the opposition parties came out in unison to slam the government. From corruption to failed implementation of plans, the opposition parties left no stone unturned in criticising the government. The Congress party observed the day as the 'betrayal day'. Here are some of the 'failures' of the Modi-government as claimed by the opposition parties.
1. 'Minorities in India not safe'
Referring to alleged atrocities on Dalits, tribals, minorities and women, Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad told reporters, "Under Modi's Government, nobody is safe. Everybody is having sleepless nights including all of you. Whatever you think, you cannot express. Whatever you want to write, you cannot write."
Highlighting the importance of national security, he said Modi exploited this "to the hilt" as this was one of the major points which he tried to score during election campaign and got maximum votes on it.
"National security does not mean only territorial integrity of the country. National security means whether we have peace and harmony in the country, but that is least at the moment. National security also means whether downtrodden, minorities, SCs, poor people and have-nots are secure, but they are not," he told reporters.
AICC General Secretary Ashok Gehlot said an "atmosphere of fear, hatred and violence has been created in the last four years of the Modi government".
"There has never been such betrayal with the people. One has never had such a prime minister in the history of the country, who has lowered the dignity of the office he holds. He speaks lies all the time and misleads people," he alleged.
2. 'Government failed on issues of inflation, poverty, job opportunities'
BSP chief Mayawati slammed the Modi government for its “historic failure” on dealing with issues concerning the common man.
"The four years of Narendra Modi government prove that it has historically failed on the issues of inflation, poverty, unemployment, welfare work and other issues which affect the life of the people in the country," Mayawati said, as she accused the government of misusing official machinery to weaken opposition parties.
3. 'Unprecedented attack on India's social fabric'
The CPM alleged that these four years had seen an "unprecedented assault" on India's social fabric and the livelihood of the people.
"These four years have seen an unprecedented assault on India as a country and the livelihood of our people. There has been a four-pronged attack that continued to intensify by the day during these four years," CPI-M leader Sitaram Yechury said.
CPI leader D Raja alleged that the BJP-RSS combine had unleashed "fascism, fear and intimidation".
"There is no other achievement. It is full of failures. All we got is rhetoric in these years...All this rhetoric and there is nothing to celebrate and term as achievements," he said, adding that Modi had "not even respected his own promises".
4. Skyrocketing fuel prices
The Congress today said that the government should rollback the increase in fuel prices instead of “showing fitness”,apparently referring to Union ministers and BJP leaders posting videos of their workouts on social media. “Someone is doing push-ups and someone is showing fitness (in other ways) but fuel prices are rising,” Congress leader Sachin Pilot told reporters in Jaipur.
Pilot said state governments can provide relief by cutting the Value Added Tax (VAT) and cess levied on fuel prices. He said people annoyed with the increasing fuel prices will give a befitting reply to the government in upcoming polls. Petrol and diesel prices were raised for the 11th day in succession until May 24 as state-owned oil firms decided to pass on the burden to consumers.
Avinash Pande, AICC general-secretary in-charge of Rajasthan, said the increasing fuel prices have badly hit the common man but the government is doing nothing to address the issue. “When crude oil prices in the international market was quite high, the price of petrol in the country was Rs 65-68 per liter during the UPA government’s rule. But now crude oil prices have remained comparatively low yet prices skyrocketed in the NDA dispensation,” Pande said. He urged the government to reduce taxes to bring down the fuel prices.