Modi government has let down country on all fronts: Congress

The Congress on Tuesday asserted that the Narendra Modi government has let down the country on all fronts.

"The state of violence in Jammu and Kashmir is same as it was in 1990s. Cross-border infiltration and ceasefire violations have increased manifold in the last two years," Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad said, addressing a press conference here.

Azad said violence in Kashmir had dipped when he was the Chief Minister of the state in 2008 and even praised former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah for keeping a check on cross-border terrorism.

He accused the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government of failing to improve the situation and said, "They have allowed the situation to worsen".

Azad said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has toured the world but India has not benefitted from his foreign policy.

"The price of pulses had risen to Rs 60 a kg from Rs 40 kg (during UPA rule) but Modi had made a huge hue and cry over food inflation. Now prices of pulses have touched Rs 200 a kg from Rs 60. Is there no inflation now," asked Azad, attacking the Modi government's economic policy.

"They had said they would produce two crore jobs a year and promote small scale industries at the village level. Where has all that gone? Unemployment has only increased under the Modi government," he added.

Azad also accused the central government of lying to the nation on the GST bill.

"The government has never brought the bill in the Rajya Sabha. Where is the question of blocking it? They had brought it in Lok Sabha where they are in majority. Our strength is limited there. How can they say then that we have blocked it," Azad said.

He said the opposition had stopped parliament from transacting business as they had raised the issue of Publi9c Distribution System (PDS) scam that had hit Chhattisgarh.

"So, blaming us for the non-passage of GST that we did not allow it to get passed would be wrong," Azad said.

He added that the Modi government has fallen flat on all the promises it had made to the people during its first six months.

--IANS

vin/rn/vt