Modi should stop making false claims in I-Day address: Congress

Representative Image

The Congress on Monday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of making 'false' promises and hoped that in his Independence Day address, he would give an account of the promises that had been fulfilled in the past three years.

On the eve of Independence Day, the party also hoped that Modi would talk about the state of the economy, the sharp decline in investment and loss of jobs in the country.

Senior Congress spokesperson Anand Sharma said that when the prime minister addresses the country from the ramparts of the Red Fort on August 15, he should refrain from making more tall promises and false and hollow claims about the achievements of his government.

"We request and advise the prime minister to give an account of how many promises that he made to people of the country in the last three years have been fulfilled. How many jobs has this government created and how many jobs have been lost. And if jobs have not been created, who should we hold responsible," he told reporters.

Sharma said, "I hope the prime minister in his I-Day speech will speak on economic slowdown and employment as the issue is linked with the future of the youth of the nation."

He said it is a painful fact that India's economy is in a downslide and for the last two-and-a-half years, the country's economy is slipping badly.

"We have been repeatedly cautioning the government that instead of making boastful claims, this government should go in for urgent course correction which this government has not done," he said.

The Congress leader said, The new Economic Survey, which is a government document, confirms what we have been saying, particularly about non-investment, weak investment climate, a sharp decline in industrial credit offtake, the lowest in the last 65 years, no new capital formation taking place and job losses on the rise."

He said this is not the opposition criticising the government, but these are hard facts which the country is confronted with.

"Therefore, it is legitimate for opposition parties to ask this question to the prime minister today. We hope the prime minister will throw some light on what he was doing to tackle such situations," he said.

Sharma alleged that BJP chief Amit Shah had made some "objectionable" remarks against the leaders of the Congress party in Bengaluru.

"We have taken strong objection to the statements," he said.