New Delhi: The Congress greeted the government on its fourth anniversary with a birthday gift - a booklet titled India betrayed.
As if that wasn't enough, the party also screened a short film lampooning Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The protagonist in the film, a young girl, whines: " Ya toe videsh yatra par, ya rally mein (He is either on a foreign tour, or at a public rally)."
Congress spokesperson Ghulam Nabi Azad said the four years have been a "saga" of betrayal. " Jhooth bolo, jhagre karao aur sarkar banao (Tell lies, divide people and form governments)," he told the media conference where the film was shown and the booklet released.
The party held demonstrations and media conferences across the country to expose the "betrayal".
The bitterness between the government and the Opposition has doubtless peaked before the two sides enter the battlefield again in the next few months. While Congress general secretary Ashok Gehlot described the four years since May 2014 as the "worst period" since Independence in terms of peace and social harmony, the party's communications chief, Randeep Surjewala, accused Modi of ruling with "treachery and tricks".
Congress chief Rahul Gandhi avoided rhetoric and tweeted a report card instead: "Four Year report card. Agriculture: F, Foreign Policy: F, Fuel Prices: F, Job Creation: F, Slogan Creation: A+, Self Promotion: A+, Yoga: B-. Remarks: Master communicator; struggles with complex issues; short attention span."
The party unleashed all its energy to cry down the joyous celebrations. While the social media team kept posting graphics and messages to counter the claims of development, it launched a Twitter campaign called 'KhotiNiyatJhoothaVikas' to run down the BJP's 'SaafNiyatSahiVikas' drive.
In-house poets came up with multiple rhyming critiques on issues ranging from agriculture to employment.
The entire focus was on Modi. From national security to foreign affairs, the Prime Minister was the target; while the BJP was not mentioned at all, there was no reference to other ministers.
Gehlot said India had never had such a Prime Minister who would publicly issue threats, saying: " Ye Modi hai, lene ke dene par jayenge (This is Modi, you will stand to lose, not gain.)"
He added: "Every section is frightened, worried. Can a Prime Minister strike fear into the citizens?"
Azad said: "Modi made such a hue and cry about corruption. What we saw is the magic of turning Rs 50,000 into Rs 80 crore by the BJP chief's son."
The reference was to the turnover of a firm owned by BJP president Amit Shah's son Jay Shah. A web portal had reported that the turnover had grown 16,000 times after Modi became Prime Minister, prompting Jay to file a defamation suit.
Azad added: "They promised to bring back black money and ended up sending out white money. People's hard earned money - thousands of crores - were looted by Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi... etc., who fled from India and that is the government's biggest achievement."
He also pointed out that the number of casualties in Kashmir - both soldiers and civilians - was the highest during the last three years and that showed how the government had fared on national security.
"Never before in any period in history, so many terror attacks took place on military installations under Modi who had exploited the issue of terrorism to the hilt," Azad said.
The booklet contained statistical details suggesting lowest-ever farm growth, decline in rural wages and MGNREGA workdays, inadequate minimum support prices, rising indebtedness of farmers, fraud by insurance companies and falling exports.
It also dwelt on the alarming job situation, unrest in educational institutions, paper leaks, inaction in corruption cases, mismanagement of the economy, profiteering on fuel prices, hostile investment climate, start-up failures, crimes against women and foreign policy failures.
