Oppn target Modi govt on 2nd anniv, Shah hits back

The Narendra Modi government drew stinging attacks from key ally Shiv Sena and Opposition parties on its second anniversary on Thursday, with Congress saying it had nothing to show but “empty promises and gimmicks” and that people fell for his “web of deceit”.

The BJP on its part rubbished the criticism with its president Amit Shah asserting that the NDA government had established “new benchmarks for development and progress” and “redefined the idea of governance and delivery”.

The Shiv Sena alleged that the NDA had failed to rein in inflation, check cross-border terrorism and that the schemes started during its rule did not reach people. In a hard-hitting editorial in ‘Saamana’, the Sena also took a dig at the Prime Minister over his frequent foreign trips, saying he had to first decide if his residence was in the country or outside.

Alleging that the two years of NDA rule has only seen “corruption” and “hooliganism”, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) said the Prime Minister’s Office was reduced to an “international travel agency”.

Fielding a battery of senior leaders in Delhi and other cities in tandem, the Congress tore into government’s handling of a range of issues from economy and employment to terrorism and foreign policy and said there was no governance but only lecture. The Modi dispensation has failed on all fronts, including job creation and reviving the economy, it said.

“Only bhashan no shasan (only lecture, no governance),” said Congress chief spokesman Randeep Surjewala.

In a power point presentation, the party took a swipe at ‘achche din’ (good days) slogan of Modi in the run up to 2014 Lok Sabha polls, saying people of India fell for Modi’s “web of deceit” woven around development and are now waiting for three more years to put behind the ‘Bure Din’(bad days) of the Modi regime.

The party dared the PM for a public debate over the need for the second anniversary celebrations, maintaining that his government was “surviving because of newspapers and news channels.” 

Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad, Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, former Union Minister Kapil Sibal as also Surjewala hit out at the Modi government at a joint conference in Delhi.

They claimed that what the country had witnessed in the last two years was just “empty promises and gimmicks” and dubbed Modi government as “most disappointing” ruling dispensation since Independence.