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”.