No-confidence debate: Before 'jhappi' to PM, Rahul attacks Centre on 'burning issues'

Congress President Rahul Gandhi addressed the monsoon session of the Lok Sabha, debating the motion of no-confidence today, where he started by listing the NDA dispensation’s jumlas. He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised the youth of this country two crore jobs, but has failed to deliver. Giving an example of China, he said the Chinese create 50,000 jobs in 24 hours as against NDA government’s 400.

Gandhi criticized Modi’s GST, saying the original idea of a unified tax regime was actually that of the Congress. He said the Congress had proposed a single slab that included petrol and diesel. He added that Modi’s policies of demonetization and GST adversely hit the MSME sector.

In an attempt to launch an attack at Amit Shah’s son Jay Shah, he said the former increased his payroll to 16,000 times at the behest of the Prime Minister, but was promptly snubbed by the Speaker for violating the norms of the House.

Rahul brought up the issue of the Rafale deal, saying the cost of the aircraft was increased approximately three times by the NDA government – from Rs. 520 crore to Rs.1,600 crore per aircraft. He pointed out Union Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's alleged flip-flop, where she had earlier agreed to reveal the cost of the aircraft but later backtracked citing ‘secrecy pacts’ that have been signed between the Indian and French governments. Rahul said he had met French President Emmanuel Macron, who told him that no such pacts had been signed. Consequently, Rahul accused Sitharaman of “speaking untruth”.

He asked Modi to address his concerns regarding the Rafale deal, asking him why it was taken away from “HAL and the youngsters of Karnataka?” He accused the Prime Minister of working hand-in-glove with the wealthy-few of the country.

Gandhi furthered his attack by saying PM Modi had "let our soldiers down in Doklam" by attending an informal summit in Wuhan. He accused him of working in cahoots with the richest businessmen and ignoring issues of the poor.

Regarding the Centre’s recent policy on Minimum Support Price (MSP), Rahul called it another jumla,  saying PM Modi announced a waiver of Rs 10,000 crore for farmers of the entire nation, while the government of Karnataka alone announced a waiver of Rs 34,000 crore.

He questioned the prime minister’s silence on burning issues facing the country including safety of women, increasing crimes against women as well as minorities, atrocities on Dalits, etc.

Rahul concluded his address by saying PM Modi and BJP supremo Amit Shah “cannot afford to lose power because if they do, many forces will turn against them”.