Sonia hits out at Modi govt, accuses it of polarising society

Addressing the first meeting of the Congress Parliamentary Party during the ongoing Monsoon session of Parliament, she also slammed it for “deception”, “glib marketing slogans” and snatching the rights of Dalits, adivasis, specifically citing the Gujarat incident where four Dalits were beaten and humiliated publicly.

She called the Gujarat case, “just one example of the social terror this government condones”. “In the last few months, we have witnessed how the Modi government’s project of destabilising institutions and polarising our society has played out with renewed vigour to the detriment of constitutional values,” she said.

She added: “The Modi government has mistaken its parliamentary majority for a licence to impose its ideology on our people. It seems to have forgotten that parliamentary majority can never be the reason to abandon the principles and practice of constitutionalism,” she said. 

Gandhi also referred to the unrest in Kashmir, which has been witnessing a turmoil for the past 11 days, after the killing of Hizbul commander Burhan Wani with clashes claiming 43 lives.

“Recent events in the Valley are tragic and pose a grave danger to the country. There can be no compromise on national security. Militants must be dealt with firmly. Yet we must ask ourselves, what has driven scores of young people to such levels of violence,” she said, 

Questioning PM's foreign policy, she said, “How does the Modi government explain the incoherence of its foreign policy despite PM's frequent travels abroad, his equally frequent embraces of world leaders and impromptu birthday calls!! Its policy towards Pakistan oscillates between one extreme to the other. The government seems to be changing our country's stand on security and defence, departing radically from policies that have stood the test of time.” 

Gandhi said, “the opaqueness of the Modi government in decision-making and brazen promotion of cronyism has cast a dark shadow on its integrity”. The Congress chief also accused the government of practising deception, saying they are creating a “bubble” of achievement.