Ad blitzkrieg, divisive politics sum up BJP's 3yrs: Gogoi

The Congress alleged today that the Modi government's talk about development had proved to be hollow and the BJP led dispensation was focussed only on advertisements and polarisation.
Addressing a press conference here, Congress MP and spokesperson Gaurav Gogoi also took a dig saying the recent incident when Union minister Arjun Ram Meghwal had to scale a tree so that his phone could catch signals showed how effective the 'Digital India' campaign had been.
"Beyond the slogans, advertising and hyper-rhetoric, the sentiment is gloomy. The so called development exists only on paper," Gogoi, said at a press conference at the Haryana Congress headquarters here.

India's economic growth has sharply slowed down, primarily due to demonetisation, which was a "scam", Gogoi claimed.
The promised 'Acche Din' (good days) have come, but only for a select few as the "suit boot ki sarkar" was pursuing "anti-poor" and "anti-farmer" policies while favouring the rich and the corporates, he said.
He said that 'Digital India's progress can be gauged from the fact that "one of ministers in the government had to climb a tree to catch mobile signals".

"The BJP government only believes in Vigyapan (advertisement blitzkrieg) and Vibhajan (divisive politics)," Gogoi said, flanked by Haryana Congress president Ashok Tanwar here.

Acche Din have come, but only for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and those industrialists who are close to the ruling party, he alleged.
"Today, they are talking about privatising Air India, various PSUs are shutting down....What happened to HMT in Haryana....Do they have answers to these?," he asked.
Terming demonetisation a "scam", he said, "it's real impact was now slowly being felt. It has dealt a big blow to economy, especially in rural areas. Any government because of which farmers, youth, rural folk and the poor stand to lose, that cannot last long, Gogoi said.
"They said demonetisation will deal a blow to black money, but till today, no one knows how much black money was found. If anyone puts an RTI, they do not reply," he said.

Asked about the BJP's claim that the government is scam-free unlike the previous Congress led regime, Gogoi said, "they brush their scams under the carpet".
"Vyapam scam and Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation scam, everyone knows about them and demonetisation scam will emerge in time to come," he claimed.
Asked about the cases against Congress leaders like former Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Gogoi said, "we welcome every kind of inquiry, but it should be made time bound".
The BJP government, he said, should not use CBI as a political tool.
"What happened in Vyapam scam, Gujarat Petroleum scam, when their own government and Ministers are in dock, they remain silent....Who assisted Lalit Modi, Vijay Mallya, all these facts should emerge," Gogoi said.

On the country's economy, he claimed the GDP de- accelerated at 6.1 per cent year-on-year between January 2017 -March 2017. The promised jobs are not being created, he said.
"The Index of Industrial Production was growing at 5.3 per cent in February 2016, which has come down to 1.9 per cent in March 2017. Bank credit growth at 5.3 per cent in 2016-17, is the lowest in 63 years," Gogoi said.
"Taking a dig he said 'ease of doing business' had become cease of business and there had been an increase in the number of stalled projects, estimated to be worth a whopping Rs 77,000 crore. Falling exports prove that the economy is sluggish," he said.

All the labour reforms which the BJP government wants to bring are anti-labour, Gogoi alleged.
On oil prices, he said that "post May 2014, international crude oil prices had come down by more than 55 per cent, but the prices of diesel and petrol had not been reduced.
"The government has earned a windfall Rs 233,000 crore by reduction in the crude oil prices, but no one knows where this money has gone?", he asked. He said the government's decision to increase fuel prices from June 16, was a "double whammy".
The Congress MP alleged that "tax terrorism" had flourished under the BJP regime, with "unlimited power of search and seizure given to the tax man."

On the housing sector, he said the BJP government had renamed the 'Rajiv Awas Yojna' as 'Housing For All' promising two crore houses by year 2022.
"In three years, the BJP government has completed 1,02,676 houses only. At this pace, it will take 600 years to construct two crore houses. This is a cruel joke," he said.
He said under the government's 'Digital India' scheme, 2,18,000 gram panchayats had to be given internet connectivity.
The first phase of Digital India was to cover 1,00,289 Panchayats but after three years, only 16,355 panchayats have been covered.
"At this pace, it will take 40 years to meet the objective," he said.

ATTACKS KHATTAR GOVT
Hitting out at the Manohar Lal Khattar led BJP government in Haryana, Gogoi said the state had lagged its rule, the investment flow had stopped and the promised international airport had not materialised.
He also hit out at over the law and order situation in Haryana, referring to the several incidents during the past one month including gang-rape of a woman from the north-east.
"It shows how police and administration are working here," he said.