– Abdul Bari Masoud
New Delhi: Congress president and Rajya Sabha Opposition Leader Mallikarjun Kharge criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the rupee’s fall to 87 per dollar, calling it “on ventilator.”
During the motion of thanks to the President’s address in Rajya Sabha, Kharge attacked the NDA government on farmers’ distress, unemployment, and failure to address key issues.
He reminded Modi of his 2013 remark when the rupee fell to 60 under UPA rule, where Modi had said it was in the ICU. Now, with the rupee at 87, Kharge said it was on a ventilator.
Mocking the government’s “Amrit Kaal” claim, he called it “Vish Kaal.”
On unemployment, he pointed to 40 lakh vacancies in government departments, accusing the Modi government of avoiding job reservations. He said public sector jobs were handed over to Modi’s select friends.
Kharge reminded Modi of his promise of two crore jobs per year. By now, he said, there should have been 22 crore jobs, but that hasn’t happened.
On farmers, he noted the absence of an MSP guarantee and said one lakh farmers had committed suicide in the last decade.
He accused the government of neglecting the poor and laborers while benefiting a few rich friends. Criticizing “Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas,” he said only Modi’s friends, Ambani and Adani, were progressing.
