Rising unemployment in India is 'Modi Made Disaster': Rahul Gandhi

Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said rising unemployment in India was 'MMD

Rahul used 112th Annual Session of PHD Chamber of Commerce platform here to launch a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi government. "Rising unemployment in India is a 'MMD: Modi Made Disaster' and after 3 years of NDA (National Democratic Alliance) government, India's expectations are shattered," Rahul claimed, while adding:"China creates 50,000 jobs per day against Indian rate of 458, but no amount of growth is good enough if it isn't accompanied by jobs."

The Gandhi scion further asserted that people don't trust the Modi-led central government. "Business thrives on trust. Business is about creating harmony. The truth is that the trust in this government is dead. For some reasons, the PM and his government is absolutely convinced that every single person in this country is a thief," Gandhi said.

He also said that today no one in the government listens to the pain of people. "One develops trust by listening to each other. Today there is no one in the government who is ready to listen to the pain of our people," the Congress Vice President said.

Rahul also took a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's claim of having '56-inch chest' and said, "Prime Minister Narendra Modi has very a big chest but a small heart. Modi ji and his government have given a double blow to our economy- demonetization and GST (Goods and Services Tax)."

As the BJP's prime ministerial candidate in January 2014, Narendra Modi declared in a rally in Uttar Pradesh that "a 56-inch chest" is a pre-requisite to convert India's most populous state into one as developed as Gujarat.

Ahead of first anniversary of demonetisation on November 8, Rahul also targeted the prime minister over the shock move. "Prime Minister has forgotten that all cash is not black and all black is not bad. Novermber 8th is the 'barsi' (death anniversary) of note ban. GST or Gabbar Singh Tax has unleashed tax terrorism. Small businesses are crying due to the GST," Gandhi said.

On November 8, 2016, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced to demonetise 500- and 1000-rupee banknotes with an aim to weaken the black money or shadow economy in the country. With the shock move completing a year, the Opposition parties have announced to observe November 8 as 'black day'.

Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has to observe the day as 'Anti-Black Money Day' to counter Opposition's plan. The GST is an indirect tax which was introduced in India on July 1, 2017 and is applicable throughout India which replaced multiple cascading taxes levied by the central and state governments.

On Monday, while addressing a rally in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, Rahul for the first time termed GST as 'Gabbar Singh Tax'.

Meanwhile, Gandhi also launched attack on Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and said, "Businesses are drowning, but Mr. Jaitley has the nerve to go on TV every other day saying things are just fine. However, recent research by eminent economists has shown that economic inequality is at is at its highest in the Modi regime."

"The 'Startup India' is good for economy but it cannot be accompanied by 'Shut up India'," he added.

Jaitley on Wednesday criticised the Congress over black money by saying that he can't recollect any significant step that the grand old party had taken during its tenure to address the problem. The Finance Minister also said that the Congress and others who are making comments on note ban have not understood the whole object behind the demonetisation move.

Jaitley said that it is obvious that those parties which were in power couldn't take action against black money as squeezing black money is not possible through baby steps. Rahul also mocked the BJP over Taj Mahal controversy, on a day Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath visited Taj Mahal for first time since assuming power in the state and after BJP MLA Sangeet Som's stirred up a controversy with his statement on the iconic monument. "World is laughing at us with debates that Taj Mahal was built by Indians," Rahul said.

The BJP MLA from Uttar Pradesh raked up a controversy by saying that Taj Mahal was built by "traitors" who wanted to eliminate all Hindus. After the issue was picked up by the Opposition, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said that it didn't matter who built Taj Mahal and for what reason. It was built by the blood and sweat of Indian labourers.