PM’s silence on China costing our nation dearly: Sonia Gandhi
Congress President Sonia Gandhi today lashed out at Prime Minster Narendra Modi on his silence on the occupation of our territory by China.
In her address to the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting in New Delhi today, Gandhi said, “Prime Minister telling the opposition leaders last year that there had not been any occupation of our territory by China and his silence ever since is costing our nation dearly.”
She said that there has always been a broad consensus on foreign and neighbourhood policy in our country and added, “But that consensus has been damaged because of the Prime Minister continued reluctance to take the Opposition into confidence in any meaningful manner. Foreign policy has become a diabolical instrument of electoral mobilisation and polarisation. We face serious challenges on our borders and on other fronts.”
She referred to the “sudden spurt in killings in Jammu and Kashmir”. “Minorities clearly have been targeted. This must be condemned in the strongest possible terms. We have done so and I do so again this morning. J&K has been a Union Territory for two years. The entire responsibility for bringing the perpetrators of these barbaric crimes to justice is that of the Union Government. Restoring social peace and harmony and confidence amongst the people in J&K rests with the Modi government too.”
On the farmers’ agitation for the scrapping of the three agricultural laws, she said that the CWC meeting is being held in the background of the continuing agitation by farmers and their organisations.
“It has been over a year since the ‘teen kaale kanoon’ were bulldozed through Parliament. We had done our best to have them subjected to legislative scrutiny but the Modi Government was hell bent on getting them passed so that a few private companies could benefit. Farmers began their protests immediately and have suffered much since then. The shocking incidents at Lakhimpur-Kheri recently betrays the mindset of the BJP, how it perceives the Kisan Andolan, how it has been dealing with this determined struggle by Kisans to protect their lives and livelihoods,” she added.
The Congress president flayed the Modi government for the disinvestment of the public sector enterprises.
She added, “The economy continues to be a cause of great concern in spite of the government propaganda to make us believe that it is not. As we all know, the only answer the Government seems to have for economic recovery is selling off national assets built with great effort over the decades. The public sector has had not just strategic and economic objectives---it has had social goals as well, as, for instance, empowerment of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes and development of backward areas. But all this is in jeopardy with the Modi government's single-point agenda of Becho, Becho, Becho. Meanwhile, prices of essential commodities - food and fuel included - continue to rise unabated. Could anyone in the country ever imagine that petrol prices would be over Rs 100 a litre, diesel would be nearing the Rs 100 a litre mark, a gas cylinder would cost Rs 900 and cooking oil would be Rs 200 a litre. This is making life unbearable for people across the country.”
In an oblique reference to bickering in the party, the party leader said that she has appreciated frankness. “There is no need to speak to me through the media. So let us all have a free and honest discussion. But what should get communicated outside the four walls of this room is the collective decision of the CWC,” she stated.