The Congress party has released "Black Paper" in response to the Centre's "White Paper" that is scheduled to be presented in the Lok Sabha on February 8. According to the party, the Black Paper focuses on the economic performance of the Narendra Modi-led government in the past 10 years.
The Black Paper consists of 56 pages, in which the Congress has raised issues titled — Institutions Subverted, National Security Compromised, Economic Injustice, Modani Raj, Social Disharmony, among others.
Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, while releasing the Black Paper said, "The government is using all its might to threaten its political opponents. Even I’m being threatened directly, indirectly, but I’m not scared. In my 53 years of political career, I’ve seen many ups and downs."
"Central agencies such as ED, CBI are being used against the political parties. We have seen what happened in Jharkhand. The BJP tried its best to come to power, but it couldn’t break the spirit of legislators in the state," he added.
Prime Minister has to be a statesman to give vision to country, but PM Modi is busy in promoting himself, Kharge stated, adding that the PM talked about issues in Rajya Sabha which weren’t relevant. The country aspires to know the policies of the government, but PM only talks about himself, he said.
In her interim budget speech on February 1, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that the Centre would present a "White Paper" in both Houses of Parliament "to look at where we were till 2014 and where we are now."
During his speech in the Rajya Sabha on February 7, Prime Minister Narendra Modi accused the Congress of "openly strangling democracy" and highlighted the difference in the growth of the nation's economy.
“The Congress that brought India’s economy from number 12 to number 11 in 10 years, we brought India’s economy to number 5 in just 10 years and this Congress is here to give us long speeches on economic policies,” the PM said.
Kharge responded with a post on X. He accused the PM of saying "countless false things" against the previous UPA governments. He also brought up the rise in the unemployment rate, the drop in the average GDP growth rate and vacant government posts under the incumbent government.
"Despite being in power for 10 years, instead of talking about himself, he only criticises the Congress party. Even today he did not talk about price rise, unemployment and economic inequality. 'Modi Ki Guarantee' is only to spread LIES!" said Kharge.
BJP leader and Standing Committee on Finance Chairman Jayant Sinha earlier said that the central government's proposed ‘white paper' will show a contrast between India's economic condition before and after 2014 - when PM Modi first assumed office.
RJD MP Manoj Jha said, “white paper will turn into a white elephant”. “White paper means you can specify the number of jobs given…where have you reached? So this isn’t white paper but a white elephant just before the elections,” Jha said.
Earlier, DMK MP Dayanidhi Maran had said, “The Finance Minister took a long time to hail praises but delivery was zero. They are going to present a white paper on the previous government… Nothing much has happened in the last 10 years.”
The Budget Session of Parliament has been extended by a day till February 10. The session, which began on January 31, was otherwise slated to end on February 9.
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