With the support of the Shiv Sena in both the houses of parliament, the Congress has increased its alliance numbers in the lower house and the after effect was visible with Sonia Gandhi adopting an aggressive stance against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah alleging that they tried to sabotage the formation of the alliance government in Maharashtra.
Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi has been attacking the government but it is the first time that she has shown her MPs that the Congress will adopt an aggressive stance against the government both inside and outside parliament. The youth and the student wings of the party have also been hitting the streets often now, said a party leader.
During the recent Constitution Day agitation led by the Congress, Sena MP Arvind Sawant and others were by her side, a new political formation in parliament. The first test of this new formation will be seen in Jharkhand which is going to the polls in five phases beginning November 30, said a leader.
In the Congress Parliamentary Party meeting, Sonia Gandhi came down heavily on the top leadership of the government.
She said: "The Governor behaved in an unprecedented and most reprehensible manner. There is no doubt that he acted under the instructions of the Prime Minister and the Home Minister. The BJP's pre-poll alliance did not hold because of its own arrogance and over-confidence. Every effort was made to blatantly sabotage the three-party alliance government formation, but we appealed to the Supreme Court and the Modi-Shah government was totally exposed".
Sonia Gandhi also lashed out at the government's inefficiency in tackling the economic problems and soaring prices. She said: "The economic crisis is deepening by the day. Growth is declining, unemployment is growing, and investment is not happening. There is worsening distress among farmers, traders and small and medium businesses. Consumption, especially in rural areas, is falling. Exports are declining. And prices of essential food commodities are rising, causing hardship to households."
She alleged that the government is fudging the data. "Instead of tackling the problem, the Modi-Shah government is busy fudging statistics or, indeed, not publishing them at all! The public sector has been put on the block, in all probability, to be sold off to a few favoured business people."
The Congress is aggressive because of the fact that the opposition strength has crossed 200 in the Lok Sabha now after the Shiv Sena exited from the NDA. The Shiv Sena has 18 Lok Sabha and 3 Rajya Sabha members. With the Sena in the alliance, the Congress is ready to corner the BJP in the house, said a party leader.
Sonia has also said that the new Maharashtra government will complete its full term, meaning that she is ready to play hard ball with the BJP in the days to come, said another party leader.
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