Nation stands as one on national issues, pol discourse has deteriorated : Congress

In an obvious message to Pakistan, Congress on Tuesday said the country stands as one on national issues even during the election time but slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi, alleging that the political discourse has witnessed "bitterness and deterioration" because of him.

Addressing a press conference after a meeting of the Congress Working Group (CWC), the highest decision-making body of the party here, senior leader Anand Sharma alleged that Prime Minister was "playing with the sentiments of the people" just for votes.

The CWC meeting, which was significantly held in Modi's home state Gujarat, also adopted a political resolution, which said there was an atmosphere of "fear" and "insecurity" in the country and that "deliberate attacks" were being made against Constitutional and safeguards for the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, OBCs and minorities.

The meeting sent out an "unequivocal message to India's enemies", saying the country stands united in defeating their nefarious agenda, in an obvious reference to Pakistan.

Sharma talked about the "recent developments", an apparent reference to the Pulwama terror attack and the subsequent events, and said, "The entire nation stands as one and speaks in one voice.

He said the CWC strongly condemned those who are against India. "They (India's enemies) should understand India's democracy. Even if it is the election time (in the country), the entire nation stands as one on national issues and the nefarious intentions will never be allowed to succeed," the Congress leader said.

He said that at the CWC meet, tributes were paid to the security forces who sacrifice their lives for the country.

At the same time, the Congress leader said, "The political discourse in the country has witnessed bitterness and deterioration and Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP are directly to be blamed for it," said Sharma.

"It is unfortunate for the country that the Prime Minister tries to draw lines just for politics. The Prime Minister is playing with the sentiments of people just for votes and we condemn this," he said.

Sharma said the Prime Minister should not question the wisdom of the people.

He also alleged that the Constitutional institutions in the country like RBI and CBI are being destroyed systematically and an atmosphere is being created which is not acceptable in a democracy.

"The constitutional institutions are being destroyed in a planned manner, be it RBI, CBI, ED or other central agencies. These are being used to target political opponents. These institutions are not only weakened but are being destroyed completely," he said.

He also said that the Congress party is committed to give "a sachi sarkar" (truthful government) to the people.

Sharma said unemployment is the highest in the last four decades and people are angry with the Modi government.