Targeting government over issues like demonetisation and Kashmir handling, Opposition today said it has been a "failure" on all fronts particularly in tackling black money, terrorism and fake currency, even as the ruling side contended that "metamorphosis of India is happening now".
Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad said in the Rajya Sabha that the goverment has imposed an "undeclared emergency" in the country and any criticism is being suppressed.
Participating in a debate on Motion of Thanks to the President's address, Azad said: "2016 has been a year of depression, recession, regression and suppression."
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Members of other opposition parties like Samajwadi Party and Trinamool Congress also attacked the government over demonetisation, state of the economy and other aspects of governance.
From the ruling side, Minister for Law and Justice Ravi Shankar Prasad said during the previous Congress rule, the country had seen widespread corruption and the economy had been left in a dire condition.
Hitting out at the government, Azad focussed his hour-long speech mainly on demonetisation, handling of Kashmir affairs and surgical strikes.
"...We all talk about demonetisation or notebandi. ...The President has appreciated demonetisation. ...But the government has been a failure on all fronts -- black money, terrorism and fake currency," the Congress leader said.
Azad talked about the problems people faced after demonetisation was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 8 last year and said the government does not even have "remorse" for coming out with such a policy which affected all.
Maintaining that demonetistion had no impact on black money or fake currency, he said it was an "ill conceived" move as 135 circulars were issued to implement a single policy. "This may find a place in the Guiness Book of World Records.
"The government failed to perform. Instead of moving
ahead on path of progress, the country is moving backwards," Azad said.
He said demonetisation has impacted farmers and "as per the National Crime Bureau Records, there is a 42 per cent increase in farmers' suicides.
"Is this welfare of farmers? Post-demonetisaton, the situation has worsened. Farmers did not have money to buy seeds, fertiliser and other inputs," the Congress leader said.
Farmers are not getting right price for their produce. "I don't think the farmers situation will improve even in the next 10 years," he said.
Referring to the government's contention that demonetisation would hit terrorism, Azad said soon after the announcement about scrapping old notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 was made, a militant killed in Kashmir was found possessing a Rs 2000 note.
About the government's assertion that demonetisation was to target black money, the Leader of Opposition referred to a number of instances where crores of rupees in new currency were seized across the country.
"While a common man could hardly get Rs 2500 through the front door of a bank, crores of rupees were pilfered through the back doors of banks," he said.
"The government must share some discredit for this. We want to how this money was generated. This is only tip of the iceberg. A few of them are caught. We don't know how many of them are involved," he said.
On fake currencies, the Congress leader said these are still available in the market.
He also criticised the government over printing of some new notes without the picture of Mahatma Gandhi and some even printed only on one side.
For the first time, 120 people died because of the government policy and even labourers faced job loss, he said, adding that situation in Surat is so bad that BJP may not get funding voluntarily.
Contending that the government cannot take criticism, Azad said his party was termed anti-national for asking details about surgical strikes as well as demonetisation.
"We support surgical strikes. If it goes for more surgical strikes, we will support. However, when we asked for the number of people killed, we became anti-national. ...If we start raising voices, we become anti-national. The choice we have now is to be silent," he said.
Azad also alleged that information about demonetisation
move had been leaked to BJP leaders before the announcement.
He said a BJP leader had knowledge about Rs 2,000 note two days before the Prime Minister announced demonetisation.
Some BJP members also purchased huge tracts of land in cash just before the old Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes were scrapped, the Leader of Opposition said.
"What is the reason that they were informed about it? ...They were in the know. Lakhs and crores of rupees were deposited in the banks," he said.
"At present, we are having undeclared emergency. Some day all facts will come out," Azad said.
On Kashmir affairs, he said the situation has worsened and the government has failed to curb infiltration.
Despite doubling security forces, there is no improvement in the situation in J&K.
Noting that the government has been expressing concern over the situation in the valley, Azad said, "Mere expressing concern is not the job of the government. It should come out with concrete solutions."
He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had talked about 'Jamhooriat, Insaniyat, Kashmiriyat' (democracy, humanity and Kashmiriyat) and even 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas' but nothing in this direction has happened in Kashmir.
"What has happened to these slogans during last two and a half years? Jamhooriat and Insaniyat have been murdered," he said and referred to the deaths and injuries caused to thousands of people in Kashmir during unrest last summer.
He also referred to the death of soldiers due to recent avalanches in Kashmir and suggested the government to shift the location of posting to safer place during winters.
Earlier, Prasad, who is also minister for IT and
Communication, showered fullsome praise on Modi and listed out various initiatives of the Prime Minister like Swachh Bharat and Start-Up India to emphasise that the country was being taken on the path of development.
He said the government is being guided by four principles -- banking the unbanked, funding the unfunded, securing the unsecured, pensioning the unpensioned.
Emphasising that "This government is for change", he said a "metamorphosis of India is happening now" as common people are being recognised along with their contribution, quality and accomplishment.
He said this in the context of Padma Awards being given to unsung heroes this time. "It is not being talked about but they (common people) are being given the highest honour," he said.
While targeting the Congress which ruled the country for most of the pre-Independence period, Prasad said a lot of people had worked for building the nation and "it is our job to honestly respect their work, their sacrifice" even though "their thinking and ideology may be different."
He said while Dr Ambedkar died in 1959, he got a Bharat Ratna only in 1990 when V P Singh was the Prime Minister.
Sardar Patel, who united India, died in 1950 but got Bharat Ratna in 1991, the minister added.
"A lot of people got (Bharat Ratna) in between... It is very good. But who were those powers who were stopping Patel from getting the honour? Maulana Azad passed away in 1959 but he got Bharat Ratna in 1992. It pains. Who were those powers, what was that thought process which stopped it? We need to think about it some time," Prasad said.
Clearly referring to the Nehru-Gandhi clan, he said if the "members of family" had been in power in early 1990s, then even Patel and Azad would have had to wait for either Atal Bihari Vajpayee or the Modi government for recognition.
Taking further dig at the Congress, he said the Modi government learns from the past, lives in the present and makes future strong.
Addressing Congress benches, he said, "Before we came into power, we also had a political legacy. Our friends, please forgive us but what was the situation then? What was our state of economy? What kind of policy paralysis was there? How much corruption was there?"
He noted that Earth is made up of five elements and in the UPA rule, corruption took place in all these elements.
"In Space, we had the Antrix Devas scam, in Air, was spectrum scam, in the Sky, we saw helicopter scam. On ground we saw Adarsh and Commonwealth scam, below the surface was coal scam, and in sea we saw submarine scam. We learnt a new concept of five elements," he said.
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Samajwadi Party member Neeraj Shekhar, while attacking the government on demonetisation, questioned whether black money, naxalism and terrorism had ended as claimed by the Prime Minister.
He said many people had died in queues and people will respond to this when the time comes.
Taking potshots at the Prime Minister, Shekhar said "I think this government is always in election mode. If Lok Sabha and Assembly elections are held together, then PM will have less chance to speak."
He said when the cost of petrol in international market was 100 USD per barrel, at that time it was being sold at Rs 70 per litre in domestic market. Today, it is 51 USD per barrel and the retail rate is Rs 71 per litre, Shekhar said.
Attacking the government for taking credit for the cross-LoC surgical strikes of last September, the SP member said earlier also similar exercises had been underatken without any announcement by the government.
After surgical strikes, 82 soldiers died in various terror incidents, he said, adding naxal violence just took place in Odisha.
The government has given different kinds of slogans like 'Digital India', 'Stand up India'... It should be 'slogan India', he said and added "whatever the government is saying they should honour that."
Trinamool Congress leader Derek O'Brien, while attacking the government over demonetisation, said so many people had died due to its impact. He demanded observation of one-minute silence in their memory.
He alleged that the government was, in turn, indulging in "political vendetta".
"You can arrest all 46 MPs of TMC and also (party supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister) Mamata Banerjee,. But you cannot stop us from opposing the anti-people policy. Political vendetta is not a solution in democracy," O'Brien said.
Referring to Modi's photo replacing Mahatma Gandhi in Khadi calender, he said "PM means 'photo mantri'."
He said photo opportinties are not a solution for any problem.
He said demonetisation has adversely affected tea gardens, leather industry among others and crores of people have lost jobs and it has resulted in reverse migration.
"Auto sales are down to 16-year low and MSME growth has declined. About 40 per cent drop is in FMCG sector," he said.
Referring to the 2002 Gujarat riots, O'Brien said "who had said 'hum paanch humare pachees (we 5, our 25)' and 'we are not running camps for producing children'. It was the then CM who is now PM."
Targeting Modi over MNREGA, the TMC MP said "PM said earlier that after 60 years of Independence, why do people still have to dig earth for a living. Now the government is taking credit for the MNREGA growth."
However, he said Bengal is number in MNREGA.
He said Bengal is safe on communal front as Indo-Pak match could be held in Bengal. Ghulam Ali could also conduct his programme in Bengal while he was denied permission for other places.
On Digital India, O'Brien said "it should be termed as
'divisive India' as there are about 26 twitter handles which are spreading hatred and two such handles have been suspended by Twitter."
"They were invited to the Prime Minister's residence for a social gathering," the Trinamool MP claimed.
Criticising the merger of the Rail Budget with General Budget, he said it was done to hide the failures of ailways.
Freight earning was declining and it was not mentioned by the Finance Minister.
Referring to the joint ventures with various state governments in rail projects, he asked what will happen to those states who do not have money.
He also asked media and the corporate world to stand up. "If you do not stand up now, you will never able to stand up."
AIDMK MP Navneetkrishnan referred to the MGR centenary celebration and demanded that the Centre should do the needful to celebrate the MGR centenary in a befitting manner.
He also sought permanent exemption of NEET in Tamilnadu.
D Raja of CPI said the situation in the country is "very scary" and it is passing through a critical period but President's address and the government's response do not address the challenges.
"Democracy in the country is in unprecedented distress. That poses a great challenge to the progress of the nation. Situation is the country is very scary. People feel insecure," he said, while cautioning the government not to take people for granted.
Raja charged that the government is not taking Parliament into confidence for both foreign as well as domestic policies.
Citing examples of strategic partnership between India and US, he said: "Foreign policy is under pressure. It is being influenced by US. India is becoming subservient to US and a junior strategic ally of US".
Raja said the government is compromising on the independent foreign policy of the nation.
"National consensus (on foreign policy) is being broken by this government. This is my charge," he said and felt that country should pursue independent sovereign foreign policy.
Raja also expressed concern that the government is not
taking pro-active action on developments in West Asia and Sri Lanka and some other countries.
India should have taken up the issue of Sri Lankan Tamils who have not got justice, the CPI leader said.
Turning to the domestic policies, he raised the issue of growing water dispute among states, which he said poses threat to unity of the nation.
On youth, Raja said they are "living in hopelessness and joblessness. There is unrest everywhere".
He demanded that the government should discard sedition clause.
"Why JNU student should be charged by sedition?... If you question the Prime Minister, you are dubbed as anti-national. Who taught you this politics?...Do you want fascist dictatorial regime in the country," he asked.
He spoke against "reckless" disinvestment and RSS members' comment on review of reservation policy.
Raja said there is "undeclared war against tribals" and "atrocities on dalits" and there is no "social security of women".
"Where is reservation for women," he asked.
"The situation is very challenging. President's address does not address these challenges. Inequalities and disparities are on rise," he said.
Raja said the right-wing forces are "posing threat to democracy". "The Republic and Constitution is challenged by the reactionary forces and communal forces," he said.
Nominated member Swapan Dasgupta said the President's speech has attached a lot of importance to the schemes and felt that there is a need to look at schemes which have faltered.
He praised the government for adding "efficiency as a necessary obligation of governance".
Dasgsupta called demonetisation move as "great audacious step" and complemented Prime Minister for taking the plunge.
To carry the gain forward and make country ethical, he said: "Lot of uncomfortable decision has to be taken".
