Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi hit out at the NDA government with his "suit-boot sarkar" jibe on Tuesday, saying his party wanted a "kurta-pyjama sarkar" that works for the common man, farmers and labourers.
“We want kurta-pyjama ki sarkar. And we will show it," he said, attacking the government led by Narendra Modi as elitist.
Gandhi, who is on a two-day visit to his parliamentary constituency Amethi, asked villagers if anyone of them was wearing "suit-boot" and asserted that a "suit-boot government was being run (at the Centre)".
Addressing a small gathering, he accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government of slowing down the pace of the country's progress.
He also targeted PM Modi for announcing a special economic package for Bihar, saying that the PM’s words had no meaning as he had failed to keep promises made in the past.
The Congress leader has not missed out on any opportunity to lash out at the government since his return from a sabbatical earlier this year. Be it the issue of farmers' suicide or the Lalit Modi controversy in Parliament, Gandhi has tried to turn the tables on the BJP-led NDA.
Gandhi wondered how Modi, who had no funds to implement the One Rank One Pension (OROP) scheme for ex-servicemen, could announce a large package of Rs 1.5 lakh crore for Bihar.
{{/usCountry}}Gandhi wondered how Modi, who had no funds to implement the One Rank One Pension (OROP) scheme for ex-servicemen, could announce a large package of Rs 1.5 lakh crore for Bihar.
{{/usCountry}}“A PM’s words should have some weight. But his words have no meaning. The PM has lost his credibility. He keeps on making announcements. He does not have Rs 8,000 crore to implement OROP for ex-servicemen who have gone on hunger strike now, but he has funds to announce a Rs 1.5 lakh crore package for Bihar,” Gandhi said while interacting with people in his Lok Sabha constituency.
His nudge came in the wake of protests by ex-military men, who have been demanding the implementation of the OROP scheme that the PM had promised before the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
“In UP elections, he may now come out with a package of Rs 2 lakh crore and in Haryana a package of Rs 3 lakh crore. He keeps on making such promises and does not keep them,” Gandhi said.
After arriving in Amethi, Gandhi undertook a ‘padyatra’, addressing ‘chaupals’ in between.
Listing the PM’s promises -- bringing back black money, implementing OROP, providing jobs, and fighting corruption -- Gandhi said Modi had promised to deposit Rs 15 lakh in the accounts of every citizen. “Did you get this money?” he asked.
“The PM now says there is no corruption in India. Which India is he talking about?” he said. while listing Vyapam and other scams. “Ministers are protecting the fugitive. Do you know Lalit Modi? He is No 1 ‘dalal’ of black money,” he said.
The Congress has been demanding the resignation of foreign minister Sushma Swaraj and Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje over the Lalit Modi controversy and that of Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan for the multi-crore Vyapam scandal.
Gandhi also targeted finance minister Arun Jaitley for changing the parameters for measuring GDP growth rate “to indicate better performance of BJP government”. He referred to the BJP government’s backtracking on the land bill and said it happened due to pressure from the Congress.
(With agency inputs)
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