Stunted children and stalled GDP growth, a reborn polio and a resurgent terrorism, vanished vaccines and waterless toilets.
As the Narendra Modi government on Monday rolled out its 11th-anniversary publicity parade, flaunting its list of purported achievements, the Opposition threw back at it a litany of the many ills tormenting the country.
The Congress released a booklet countering each of the claims in the Centre’s Viksit Bharat ka Amrit Kaal: Seva, Sushasan, Garib Kalyan ke 11 Saal (The Golden Age of a Developed India: 11 Years of Service, Good Governance and Welfare for the Poor), which was released last week.
Other parties, too, tried to poke holes into the NDA government’s claims.
The Congress’s booklet — 11 Saal, Jhoothe Vikaas Ke Vaade (11 Years of False Promises on Development) — quoted extensively from publicly available data and issued point-wise rebuttals to the government’s 166-page booklet.
Citing the Global Hunger Index report, the Congress said: “Malnutrition remains a national crisis. Stunting (low height for age) is at 35.5%, wasting (low weight for height) at 19.3%, and underweight (low weight for age) at 32.1%.”
The party trashed the purported success of Swachh Bharat, saying: “World Bank report — Toilet usage dropped since 2018-19 by 20 points among SC and 24 points among ST due to non-functional toilets, lack of water and poor maintenance.”
On agriculture, the Congress flagged issues with every scheme of the Modi
government.
“Nearly 55% of India’s agricultural households were burdened with debt. More than 19 crore farmers owe over ₹33 lakh crore to banks,” the Congress’s booklet said.
“Between 2018-19 and 2022-23, the Department of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare surrendered nearly ₹85,000 crore in unspent funds.”
On security, the Congress underscored that contrary to the claims that the removal of Article 370 had reduced separatism, “between 2019 and 2023, Jammu and Kashmir saw 579 terror attacks and the deaths of 168 civilians and 247 security personnel”.
The Congress was equally scathing about the economy.
“India’s real GDP growth for FY 2024-25 was the slowest annual growth since the pandemic year 2020-21…. The net FDI figure crashed 96% between 2020-21 and 2024-25…,” it said.
“More than 31,600 MSMEs shut down in 2024–25 (as of 29 Jan 2025) as per the Udyam Registration Portal. Banks wrote off ₹16.35 lakh crore in bad loans over the last 10 financial years.”
To counter the government booklet’s praise of India’s Covid management and other achievements in public health, the Congress booklet highlighted the return of polio to the country last year.
Presenting a chart on previous governments’ delays in introducing several vaccines, the government booklet had said: “The speed at which India’s COVID-19 vaccines were developed shows a New India that does not have to wait decades for vaccines or depend upon other countries.”
The Congress rejoinder: “In 2024, polio was detected in a 2-year-old in Meghalaya — a decade after the World Health Organisation declared India polio-free, with the last recorded case in 2011. The government’s failure to implement vaccination programmes has undone years of efforts by previous governments to eradicate polio.’
The party added: “Since 2019, the number of children receiving zero doses of vaccinations has risen. Almost 2 in 5 children in India have not received full vaccinations due to poor implementation of the scheme.”
The Trinamool Congress tweeted: “A fitting occasion to take stock of what the country has truly received from @BJP4India over the past 11 years: Disturbing rise in crimes against women, Back-breaking inflation. Record-high unemployment. Divisive, anti-people legislation. Fatal railway accidents. Catastrophic COVID-19 mismanagement.”
Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav took the opportunity to question the claims of “double-engine vikas” – the idea that a state benefits from being ruled by the party that rules at the Centre, too.
“If we add 11 years of Delhi government and 9 years of Uttar Pradesh government, then the government will have to give an account of its 20 years of governance as to what it has done for the people,” he told reporters.
“The schemes being implemented do not seem to indicate that there is any coordination between Delhi and Lucknow. If the Prime Minister adopts a village and its picture does not change, then a question mark is raised on the Uttar Pradesh government.”
The BJP has been in power in Uttar Pradesh for a little over eight years.