Modi-Shah tried to subvert democracy in Maharashtra: Sonia

New Delhi: Congress interim President Sonia Gandhi on Thursday launched a tirade against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister and BJP President Amit Shah accusing them of attempting to subvert democracy in Maharashtra through Governor B.S. Koshyari.

While addressing the meeting of the party leaders during the Congress Parliamentary Party meeting, Sonia Gandhi said, “Maharashtra Governor (Koshyari) behaved in an unprecedented and most reprehensible manner. There is no doubt that he acted under the instructions of the Prime Minister and the Home Minister.”

Sonia Gandhi was referring to the swearing in of Devendra Fadnavis as Maharashtra Chief Minister along with NCP supremo Sharad Pawar’s nephew Ajit Pawar as his deputy on Saturday.

She said, the BJP’s pre-poll alliance with the Shiv Sena did not hold because of its own arrogance and over-confidence. “Every effort was made blatantly to sabotage the three-party alliance government formation, but we appealed to the Supreme Court and the Modi-Shah government was totally exposed,” she said.

The Shiv Sena-Congress-Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) had approached the Supreme Court on Saturday against Governor inviting Fadnavis to form the government in Maharashtra.

The three parties were left surprised as they were in final rounds of talks to forge an alliance in the state to form the government, which was put under President’s rule on November 12.

The Supreme Court, however, on Tuesday ordered the Governor to hold the floor test in 288-member House on Wednesday. Following apex court’s order junior Pawar and Fadnavis resigned the same day, paving the way for the three parties to form government.

Sonia Gandhi further said that three parties are united in their resolve to defeat the BJP’s sordid manipulations.

Slamming the BJP-led central government over the economic slowdown, the Congress leader said, “Modi-Shah government is bankrupt of decency and is clueless on how to manage the grave problems the country is facing. The economic crisis is deepening day by day, growth is declining, unemployment is increasing and investment is not happening.” She said that there was worsening distress among farmers, traders and small and medium business consumption, especially in rural areas was falling.

Hitting out at the Prime Minister and the BJP chief, Sonia Gandhi said, “Instead of tackling the problem, Modi-Shah government is busy in fudging statistics or indeed not publishing them at all.”

She said that even the public sector has been put on the block to be sold off to a few favoured business people. The Congress leader also hailed the party’s stand on RCEP Agreement which India was about to sign.

She said, “We did so in order to protect the interests of farmers, fishermen, small and medium enterprises and our manufacturing industry and our voices played a major role in the Prime Minister’s sudden and hypocritical discovery of Gandhiji’s talisman in Bangkok.”

She also accused the BJP government of pursuing divisive policies like the one relating to amendments in the citizenship law, that strike at the very foundations of the COnstitution.

“It is sheer hypocrisy on the part of the Modi-Shah establishment to celebrate November 26 as the Constitution day, while deceitfully subverting this sacred document day in and day out. The whole of the northeast is in turmoil because of these amendments and because the National Register of Citizens (NRC) project implemented by the BJP government in Assam, monitored by the Supreme Court, has not fulfilled the RSS-BJP expectations and propaganda, there is now clamour in the ruling party for a fresh NRC in the state,” she said.

She further said that the Home Minister is also speaking of unleashing NRC in the entire country – a step that will only lead to more fear and panic.

Commenting on Abrogation of Article 370 from Jammu & Kashmir that gave special status to the state, she said, “Three months ago, democracy was again subverted when Article 370 was erased under the blatantly false promise of a new beginning in Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh. But the ground realities are completely different from the fictitious images conjured up by the Modi-Shah government.”

She also highlighted how the former J&K Chief Ministers, who were earlier allies of the BJP in Jammu & Kashmir have been put under house arrest. Attacking the government for not allowing former Congress President Rahul Gandhi to enter Srinagar to meet the people in Jammu & Kashmir, Sonia Gandhi said, “But the government preferred to shamefully organise clean chits from a clutch of European parliamentarians brought along by a dubious NGO,” she added.

Published on: Nov 28, 2019 at 11:43 IST

IANS