The Congress on Saturday said the Narendra Modi government had betrayed every section of society and served only the interests of its own, as manifested in the phenomenal rise in the wealth of the industrialist on whose plane Modi had arrived in Delhi in 2014 to take oath as Prime Minister.
Bringing a “chargesheet” against the Modi government that will be distributed across the country, along with a letter written by Rahul Gandhi, over a two-month period starting January 26, the Congress summed up its assessment in one slogan: “Kuchh ka saath, Khud ka vikas, Sabke saath vishwasghat (Company of a few, their own progress, betrayal of all).”
The chargesheet said Modi had flown to Delhi to take oath on the private jet of a businessman “whose wealth grew 50 times since 2014”.
Although the party did not name anyone, Modi’s use of an aircraft owned by the Adani Group to travel from Ahmedabad to Delhi as Prime Minister-designate had sparked controversy.
The Congress said the “top 10% of India’s wealthy own 64% of India’s wealth while the bottom 50% own only 6% wealth”.
It added: “Rs 72,000 crore in loans taken by Modi’s friends were waived but not even a single farmer’s loan was waived. Modi’s close friend was gifted more than 30% of India’s ports, airports, electricity and coal capacity. More than Rs 10,000 crore of taxpayers’ money was spent to boost Modi’s image.”
The chargesheet said the BJP’s assets had crossed Rs 5,000 crore. Pointing to mushrooming dynasties in the BJP, it said 20 ministers, 14 MPs and 31 MLAs were beneficiaries of this culture.
“Amit Shah’s son runs Indian cricket while Agniveers are told to become security guards,” it added.
The chargesheet repeats criticism of the government on the rising prices, unemployment, farmers’ distress, atrocities on women, flawed GST, ill-effects of demonetisation, destruction of small and medium enterprises, the revoked farm laws, Covid mismanagement, child malnutrition and declining government support for education to backwards and minorities. It specifically points to petrol prices touching Rs 100 a litre and LPG cylinders selling at Rs 1,100.
Referring to the rise in hate speech and fear among minorities, the chargesheet says: “Manga tha adhikaar, mila sirf andhkar (Asked for rights, received darkness).”
Questioning the hype over India’s rising stature in the world, the chargesheet says China captured 2,000sqkm of Indian territory but the Prime Minister said nobody had entered Indian territory.
The chargesheet describes how Modi’s “friends” are buying media houses. It highlights India’s slide on international rankings, the victimisation of political opponents through the misuse of investigative agencies, and the toppling of Opposition governments.
The general secretary in charge of organisation, K.C. Venugopal, said while releasing the chargesheet: “Lakhs of people talked to Rahul Gandhi during the Bharat Jodo Yatra. We felt people’s pain and suffering all along the journey from Kanyakumari to Kashmir. The chargesheet reflects feedback from the common people.”
Congress communications chief Jairam Ramesh said: “We could have made a 100- page chargesheet but people don’t read long texts these days. Also, sending it through WhatsApp is easier if it is short.”
Congress units have been asked to prepare additional chargesheets against the BJP governments in the states for distribution along with these documents. The party has already released Rahul’s letter that will be distributed along with this chargesheet.
