NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday launched a scathing attack on the economic policies of the erstwhile Congress governments. He said due to the wrong policies of the Congress, India’s sluggish growth rate came to be known as “Hindu rate of growth” in the past.
Replying to the discussion in the Rajya Sabha on the motion of thanks on the President’s Address, the PM said, “The image of the Hindus was tarnished owing to the wrong policies of the Congress as the phrase ‘Hindu growth rate’ was coined to describe India’s slow GDP growth then.”
The Congress policies were not only detrimental to the economy but also identified a community with economic stagnation, he said. The PM said the licence-permit raj prevailing during the Congress regimes in the past was against the grain of Indians who are traditionally an enterprising people and believe in unshackling of business. “The licence-permit raj crippled India’s progress. Bribery was rampant,” the PM said. The BJP-led NDA government had worked towards dismantling these outdated systems to boost business opportunities and encourage entrepreneurship and innovation, Modi said.
“Sabka ka saath, sabka vikas should be a common goal, but to expect that from the Congress is a big mistake.
The Congress model is a mixture of lies, cheating, appeasement and nepotism,” Modi said, adding that the BJP could win three consecutive elections because people studied the party’s programmes, accepted these and started supporting these.
Recalling authoritarian actions by the Congress in the past, Modi talked about imprisonment of the lyricist Majrooh Sultanpuri and actor Balraj Sahni for taking part in anti-government protests. He also talked about how Dev Anand’s films were banned from Doordarshan and Kishore Kumar’s songs were barred from the All India Radio during the days of the Emergency.
The spirit of the Constitution was crushed during the Emergency, he said.
Hailing the Budget proposals, the PM said 25 crore people of the country had moved out of poverty and became part of the neo-middle class. “We want to strengthen the middle class and the neo-middle class. With this in view, we have made income up to Rs 12 lakh tax-free in the Budget,” he said.
On the contentious issue of the Uniform Civil Code, Modi said this was broadly agreed during the debate in the Constituent Assembly. He said one must read the debates to know the truth.