In a scathing attack on Narendra Modi, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Saturday said the prime minister has “destroyed” the dignity of the highest post of the country by repeatedly making “hollow promises” to 140 crore Indians. She also said that instead of worrying about the Congress, Modi should work on “restoring the dignity of his post by resorting to truth”.
Her remarks came after Modi on Friday said the Congress stands “badly exposed” in front of the people for promising to them what the party knows it will never be able to deliver.
The prime minister launched a fierce attack on the opposition party as he seized on Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge’s comments that the Congress’ state units should make promises that are properly budgeted.
He also said the developmental trajectory and fiscal health in the Congress-ruled states of Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka and Telangana is going from bad to worse.
Hitting back at the prime minister, Priyanka Gandhi said in a post in X in Hindi, “Mahatma Gandhi used to say ‘Truth is God’. ‘Satyameva Jayate’ written in Mundaka Upanishad is our national motto. These mottos establishing truth became the ideals of the Indian freedom movement, the reconstruction of India and public life.
“In a country where truth is the basis of thousands of years of culture, the person sitting on the highest post should not resort to falsehood.”
The allegations levelled by the prime minister against the Congress are far from the truth, she said.
“The Congress started fulfilling the promises made to the people as soon as it formed the government, without waiting for the next elections. Be it Karnataka, Telangana or Himachal Pradesh, people’s money is being put into their pockets everyday through guarantees,” the Congress general secretary said in the post.
The prime minister has understood that his words no longer have any value before the country’s people, she claimed.
Sharpening her attack on Modi, Priyanka Gandhi continued, “The ‘100 days plan’, ‘taking opinion of 20 lakh people for the roadmap for 2047’, ‘2 crore jobs every year’, ‘100 smart cities’, ‘bringing back black money’, ‘reducing inflation and unemployment’, ‘doubling farmers’ income’, ‘bringing rupee at par with dollar’ and ‘bringing ‘Achche Din’ — these are all promises which have been proven false and now the people of the country have no faith in them.”
“Instead of worrying about the Congress, he (Modi) should work on restoring the dignity of his post by resorting to truth,” she added.
Congress’ media and publicity department head Pawan Khera also slammed the prime minister, saying the latter has lowered the dignity of his post by resorting to false promises.
Claiming that the Congress governments have fulfilled their promises in the states ruled by them, Khera alleged in a video statement that Modi had to even delete a post attacking the party out of fear of being fact-checked.
On Friday, the Congress launched a multi-pronged attack on Modi over his jibe at the former for its poll guarantees, with party chief Kharge saying before pointing fingers, the prime minister should note that the “Modi Ki Guarantee” is a “cruel joke” on 140 crore Indians.
Stating that the ‘B’ in BJP stands for ‘betrayal’ while ‘J’ stands for ‘jumla’, Kharge said in a post on X, “Narendra Modi ji, Lies, Deceit, Fakery, Loot and Publicity are the 5 adjectives which best describe your government! Your drum beating regarding a 100-day plan was a cheap PR stunt!”
Besides Kharge, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel and Congress General Secretary (Organisation) KC Venugopal also lashed out at Modi, citing Congress’ “track record” in fulfilling its promises.
