Congress not obstructionist: Pilot

Taking exception to the
'obstructionist' tag given to his party by the BJP, Congress leader Sachin Pilot today said it was only trying to make the Centre accountable to people, as the ruling party had made a U-turn on many of its poll promises.
"The Congress is not at all obstructuionist. We are only trying to make BJP accountable to people as Parliament is the only place where you can make the government accountable to the masses," Pilot observed.
He told reporters that the BJP had backpedalled on several of its poll pledges in the last one year, like for instance bringing back black money, Indo-US nuclear deal, Article 370 and land bill.

"In the last one year, more than Rs 60,000 crore of subsidy meant for various social schemes has been withdrawn by the government. They are not interested in the development of the poor, but only serving the rich. They have withdrawn several centrally-funded schemes," he said.
Pilot also condemned Prime Minister Narendra Modi's comment made during his three-nation tour that "earlier, you felt ashamed of being born Indian. Now you feel proud to represent the country".

"It showed Modi's arrogance. India is much bigger than any political party or individual," he contended.
On the Prime Minister's "team India" observation during his interaction with Mamata Banerjee recently, Pilot said Modi was everything but a team man and it was reduced to a one-man government at the Centre.

"He was trying to impress upon the Chief Minister as he needs support of her party MPs in Rajya Sabha. I am sure if you ask BJP leaders like L K Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi, they will tell you how much of a team player he is.
"What has happened in New Delhi is concentration of power. No other minister has any say; it's a one-man government. When you say that he is talking about Team India, then it's a dichotomy, perhaps done to get some help from the TMC in the Upper House," he said.
Pilot also took a jibe at BJP president Amit Shah for asserting that the biggest acheivement of the government was being corruption-free.

"There are several BJP chief ministers who have been involved in corruption and the CAG too has pointed at wrong-doings by various governments. There may not be a big financial scam yet, but at the grass roots cooruption is still there," he alleged.
He also questioned Modi's "numerous" foreign trips.