The Congress on Tuesday termed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Independence Day speech as a "crass election speech filled with distortions, lies, exaggerations and vague promises".

 

The opposition party said instead of bringing the country together on Independence Day, he made it all about himself and his image and not accepting the challenges ahead and celebrating the country's journey so far.

On Prime Minister Modi's assertion that he will unfurl the national flag again at Red Fort next year and give a report of his achievements, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said Modi will unfurl the national flag next year but at his residence.

Modi's remark stems out of the "arrogance that he displays", Kharge said.

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said, "On 15 August 2023, rather than reporting to the people what his government had achieved in the past nine years, Prime Minister Modi gave a crass election speech filled with distortions, lies, exaggerations and vague promises. Instead of bringing the country together, to celebrate our journey so far, acknowledge the pain and anguish of those suffering, and accept the challenges ahead, he made it all about himself and his image". 

"To summarise, PM Modi's failures in the last nine years can be categorised under 'durniti' (bad policies), 'anyay' (injustice) and - perhaps most importantly - 'badniyat' (ill intention). Rhetoric and bluster can no longer cover up this truth which is now evident to the entire country," Ramesh said in a statement

He said the prime minister addressed the devastation caused by the violence in Manipur, casually comparing it with incidents in other parts of the country. 

He showed no sorrow or acknowledgment of the abject failures which have led to Manipur turning into a war zone. He brazenly claimed that 'Bharat Mata' is being rejuvenated in 'Amrit Kaal' - when the whole nation has witnessed her fate in Manipur where women are being brutally violated, he claimed.

The prime minister claimed that a new world order has been ushered in as the world saw India's capability during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Congress leader said, adding that he deliberately failed to mention that as a direct result of inadequate oxygen supplies and the PM's "failure" to order adequate vaccines in a timely manner, India ended up with 40 lakh Covid deaths the world's "highest" death toll according to the WHO. 

He said the world has not forgotten the bodies piled up outside hospitals and flowing down the Ganga during the devastating second wave of the pandemic. 

Ramesh said the prime minister played a cruel joke on Anganwadi and ASHA workers by thanking them for delivering 200 crore vaccines, especially when the families of many of these essential workers were denied compensation after they had died fighting the pandemic, and those living were not even paid their wages. -- PTI