NEW DELHI: The Congress on Monday termed the Presidential address of Ram Nath Kovind to the joint session of Parliament as a “joke” and disappointing, bereft of known facts and ground reality.
Its spokesman Anand Sharma, deputy leader of party in the Rajya Sabha, told reporters that the party was amused at the “hollow claims” made by the government through the Presidential address, completely ignoring the real concerns of the ordinary people to paint as if everything is fine.
He expressed surprise at the claims of mitigating agrarian distress in the Presidential address. “Everybody knows farmers are in deep distress. Agriculture growth has slumped to 1.7% from 4%. Rural wages are down. Where are the jobs? Over three crore people lost their jobs because of the Prime Minister’s reckless decisions. We know the President could not have given an account of the Government’s non-performance and failures, but they should not make a mockery of the people’s problems.”
Why the Lokpal was not appointed even in the past four years despite the law in place, Sharma said mocking at the President talking of the Modi government’s fight against corruption when he said honesty is being institutionalized and the registration of 3.5 lakh fake companies has been cancelled in the last three years.
He said the Congress has repeatedly accused the Government of systematically weakening the legal framework required to fight corruption, including strangling of the Right to Information (RTI) Act.
The Congress leader also pointed to the grim situation in Haryana and Madhya Pradesh where rapes had become routine and several corruption cases on which the Prime Minister refused to act. “We will present facts and demolish these false claims during the motion of thanks to the President’s address in both the Houses of Parliament,” Sharma declared.
He and other opposition leaders said the government’s hypocrisy was most clearly manifested in the credit it sought to take on empowering the Muslim women when the President said that “for decades, the dignity of Muslim women remained captive to political cost-benefit” but enactment of the Triple Talaq will “enable Muslim sisters and daughters to live a life of self-respect with courage.”
The opposition partis have consistently over the last three years articulated its concerns over the fear psychosis among the Muslims, particularly in the wake of ceaseless communal propaganda by a section of the Sangh Parivar, the occasional hawkish statements by the ministers and even lynching on the streets.
