Economic storm staring India but PM is silent, says Rahul at AICC session

The All India Congress Committee (AICC) session passed a 12-page resolution, titled Nyay Path, which accused the government of practising a "weak-kneed and failed foreign policy"

Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “silence” on US tariffs on India.

 

Gandhi has predicted that the country is staring at an “economic storm,” which, he feels, will hurt millions.

 

Addressing the two-day 86th session of the Congress in Ahmedabad, the Congress leader accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government at the Centre of indulging in theatrics and drama for two days in Parliament during the Budget session, which concluded on April 4, as a means to “distract” the public from the tariff issue.

 

He drew a parallel with the way the PM had asked the people during Covid to bang pots and pans as a distraction.

 

 

“Now, an economic storm is staring at us in the face and it will hurt millions of people. Unemployment is at a 50-year high. Where is Modi ji, where is he hiding?” Gandhi asked.

 

He said there hasn’t been a whimper from the PM on the tariffs that his “friend” US President Donald Trump has imposed on India.

 

The All India Congress Committee (AICC) session passed a 12-page resolution, titled ‘Nyay Path’. It accused the central government of practising a “weak-kneed and failed foreign policy.”

 

It said the current regime had compromised India’s foreign policy at the altar of “individual branding” and serving “vested interests.”

 

The Congress said India’s foreign policy cannot be an instrument of divisive politics for the domestic political agenda, as is being done by the BJP-led government at the Centre.

 

On the issue of the US imposing a 26 per cent tariff, the Congress said it would hurt India’s farmers and its automobile and pharmaceutical sectors.

 

The resolution flagged the rise of “radical elements” in Bangladesh as a matter of serious concern, as it has already created an unsafe environment for religious minorities, including Hindus, Buddhists and Christians. In his speech, Gandhi said the PM sat with Bangladesh chief adviser Muhammad Yunus (at the recent BIMSTEC Summit) but failed to flag India's concerns.

 

On India-US ties, the Congress said it was a votary of close ties between the two countries but not at the expense of India’s national interests.

 

It urged the government to undertake constructive negotiations with the US by placing India’s national interests first and after taking into confidence all political parties and stakeholders. “For the present BJP government, foreign policy has been reduced to a policy of weak-kneed leadership and helpless submission, which is unacceptable,” the resolution stated.

 

Earlier in the day, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge accused the government of not allowing a discussion in Parliament on the issue of tariffs. He welcomed the Supreme Court order on gubernatorial powers in withholding Bills passed by state legislatures, and said 2025 will be the year to rebuild the Congress organisations. 

 

“Leaders who do not contribute to party work should retire,” Kharge said. The Congress president, and later Rahul Gandhi, said the party has decided that its district presidents will be the foundation of its organisational structure, and empowered to take calls on selection of candidates. 

 

The Congress president said the party is fighting the “second freedom struggle”. He said that it had fought earlier against the colonial foreign rulers, who were unjust, caused deprivation and engineered communal polarisation. He added that now the country’s own government is indulging in such actions.

 

In his speech, Gandhi described the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, which Parliament passed last week, as an attack on the freedom of religion. He said the next target will be the land owned by the Christian community and subsequently the Sikh community. He reiterated that only the Congress had the firm ideological moorings to be able to fight the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.

 

The 12-page Congress resolution sought to define the party’s idea of ‘nationalism’ based on social, political and economic justice and empowerment of India’s people in contrast to the “pseudo-nationalism” of the BJP-RSS, which “aims to erase India’s diversity”.

 

On judiciary, the resolution said that the “recent incident of recovery of cash from the residence of a Judge is indeed alarming.” It said the Congress recognises that an independent judiciary is intrinsic to the protection of Constitutional principles and democracy, but it is also true that the judiciary must set safeguards and standards for accountability.

 

“A mechanism for judicial accountability, without compromising on judicial independence, is the need of the hour,” the party said.

 

The resolution criticised the “backbreaking LPG gas cylinder hike of ₹50” and said the increase in the excise duty of petrol and diesel by ₹2 per litre is “to deny the benefit of reduced petrol/diesel prices to the common man emanating from unprecedented fall in the price of crude oil to $65 per barrel (lowest in last 5 years).”

 

The resolution flagged stagnant wages and deepening economic uncertainty in India, which have led to a 300 per cent increase in gold loans over just five years.

 

It also highlighted the “stalled consumption” and said private investment was at a historical low.

 

The party alleged that the government was “systematically eliminating competition across sectors. This was to pave the way for monopolies, duopolies and oligopolies — manned by two or three favoured industrialists.”