PM Modi didn't create single PSU, privatised 23: Congress MP in RS

Congress's MP Ripun Bora in Rajya Sabha on Thursday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying that he did not create a single Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) while he privatised 23.

Speaking on the Motion of Thanks to President's Address in Rajya Sabha, Bora also compared previous Prime Ministers with PM Modi on the matter and said Rajiv Gandhi created 16 PSUs and no privatisation, Atul Bihari Vajpayee created 17 PSUs; and Manmohan Singh created 23 PSUs and privatised only three.

Noting that the economy was badly devastated during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Congress leader said that nothing was mentioned on how to recover the economic scenario in President's address which is considered as a roadmap.

It was totally contrary to people's expectations as the address neither mentioned ways nor measures on how to recover the losses during COVID-19. "There was a drastic fall in the income of 84 crore people during a pandemic but President's address did not mention anything."

Meanwhile, the Congress leader mentioned how 27 crore people were pulled out of poverty under the UPA government and that five crore people have been pushed below the poverty line now.

The MP also took a dig at the Modi government on inflation, saying "not a single word to tackle price rise was mentioned in President's address despite individual consumption has hugely declined".

Bora raised the issue of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) and noted how the Indian armed forces ambushed and killed 17 coal miners in Nagaland's Mon district on December 4 last year.

"Normally military is used against foreign aggression, but our military has killed our own people," said the Congress leader.

He also pointed out that the Naga peace talks have not yielded any result.

The leader also raised the issue of crime against Scheduled caste and Scheduled Tribe, citing National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data. "Where is the empowerment if we cannot protect them (SC/ST people)?" asked the leader.