NEW DELHI, Apr 14:
The Congress trashed the BJP’s Lok Sabha poll manifesto on Sunday as a “jumla patra” full of rhetoric, with party chief Mallikarjun Kharge saying Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s guarantee is a “warranty of jumlas” as he has failed to fulfil his past promises.
The opposition party also accused Modi of not honouring his promises made on jobs, doubling farmers’ income and tackling inflation, and alleged that the prime minister is now shifting the goalposts by talking about 2047.
The Congress said the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) manifesto should have been named “maafinama” and Modi should have apologised to farmers, youngsters, poor people and Dalits for not fulfilling the promises made in the last 10 years. Kharge accused Modi of not doing any major work during his tenure that would have benefitted the people of the country.
Modi released the manifesto at the BJP headquarters here on Sunday. The document has a special focus on the poor, youngsters, farmers and women.
Kharge said youngsters are demanding jobs and the prices of food items have skyrocketed, but the BJP’s manifesto says nothing on these issues.
“No accountability for old guarantees, just a jugglery of empty words! ‘Modi ki Guarantee’ equals ‘warranty of jumlas (rhetoric)’,” he said in a post in Hindi on X and posed 14 questions for the Prime Minister.
Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi said, “Two words are missing from the BJP’s manifesto and Narendra Modi’s speech — inflation and unemployment.”
“INDIA’s plan is very clear — recruitment in 30 lakh posts and a permanent job of Rs 1 lakh to every educated youngsters. This time the youngsters are not going to fall into Modi’s trap. They will strengthen the hands of the Congress and bring an ’employment revolution’ in the country,” Gandhi said in a post in Hindi on X.
Addressing a press conference, Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said in the manifesto for the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, Modi had promised to bring back black money by forming a special task force, but electoral bonds were introduced instead.
The BJP had promised to strengthen law and order in the northeast, but violence is continuing in Manipur and Modi has been silent on it, he said.
Asked about the Ram temple issue, Khera said, “Ram is an issue of faith and not of politics. We will not allow the BJP to drag him into politics.”
On “one nation, one election”, he said the Lok Sabha polls will be held in seven phases in certain states and the BJP is talking of one election. “Modi is used to giving slogans. One nation, one mistake and that is Narendra Modi,” Khera added.
He said Modi had promised that poverty will be eradicated from 100 districts in the country through a special package, but the figures of the Hunger Index reveal the truth. The BJP had promised to build 100 new smart cities that never came up and instead, China is building “smart villages” along the border, he claimed.
“People are fed up with these promises of Modi,” Khera said.
“We have strong objections to the name of the BJP’s Sankalp Patra. It should be called maafinama instead. Modi should have apologised to the Dalits, farmers, youngsters and tribals,” he added.
Khera also alleged that the prime minister has the habit of shifting the goalposts as he is now talking about 2047 and “people have understood that they should not believe in him anymore and it is time for him to pack up”.
Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate said, “This is not a manifesto but a jumla patra.” She said while the Congress set up its manifesto committee in December last year and collected suggestions from a cross-section of people, the BJP’s manifesto panel was set up only 13 days ago and the document was prepared without any consultations.
“After ruling for 10 years, Modi has started befooling people. The claim that 25 crore people were taken out of poverty is hollow and no third party has confirmed it. The truth is that two farmers and two youngsters commit suicide in the country every hour,” Shrinate said.
She alleged that the BJP is preparing for the biggest assault on the Constitution.
“In a country where there is maximum joblessness, the mention of jobs comes only twice in the BJP’s manifesto. There is no mention of a legal guarantee on the MSP (for crops). There is no mention of Manipur or China’s transgressions either,” the Congress leader said.
She alleged that since 2014, Modi’s “flawed” foreign policy has resulted in China entering Indian territory, India losing out on world trade and FDI and isolating itself in its neighbourhood.
On fighting terrorism, Shrinate said 3,950 killings were reported from Kashmir since 2014, including 1,577 during the NDA government’s second term.
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also said the BJP’s ‘Sankalp Patra’ is just a “sham”.
“Their real manifesto is the ‘Samvidhan Badlo Patra’. In every street, state after state, BJP leaders and candidates are roaming around with the ‘Samvidhan Badlo Patra’ and talking about changing Babasaheb’s Constitution in their speeches…,” she said in a post in Hindi on X.
In a post on the microblogging platform, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said: “The BJP’s Modifesto is 76 pages long. It has 53 photos of the Camerajeevi. It is a farewell memento to the man who in the past ten years has distorted, damaged, denied, diverted, denigrated, and defamed.”
Another Congress general secretary, Randeep Surjewala, said the BJP’s manifesto is a “combo pack of jumlas”. (PTI)
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