Modi govt like leech sucking common man's blood, claims Sidhu

Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu Friday said the NDA government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi was like a "leech" that was sucking the common man's blood.

Speaking to reporters at Rajiv Bhawan, the Congress' state headquarters, here, Sidhu also said public sector firms and banks had suffered massive losses in the past five years due to the wrong policies of the Centre.

"It is written in the Vedas that a government should be like a bhawra (beetle) which sucks nectar from flowers but still it blooms. The Modi government has become a leech that is sucking the blood of the common man. The common man can't even stand," the cricketer-turned-politician said.

"Public sector companies and banks have suffered massive losses under NDA rule in the last five years due to its wrong policies. The profits of a few capitalists had increased under the Modi government while public sector firms and banks are sinking," he alleged.

He said the Centre had increased excise duty on petrol and diesel 16 times in the last five years, adding that fuel prices were low during the Manmohan Singh-led UPA government despite high international rates of crude.

However, under PM Modi's rule, domestic fuel prices are touching the sky despite low international rates, he alleged.