Modi's I-Day speech most disappointing: Congress

Congress on Tuesday trashed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Independence Day adress as the “most disappointing” and his war against black money a “sham”.
 
The main opposition party also took objection to the “trivial manner” in which the Prime Minister clubbed the Gorakhpur tragedy, that saw 30 infants die over a period of two days, with natural calamities.
 
“The Prime Minister's Independence Day address has been most disappointing. After three years, it was time for him to give an account of the failure of his government in fulfilling its promises to the people, especially the youth, farmers and weaker sections,” senior Congress spokesperson Anand Sharma told reporters here.
 
The Congress also launched a broadside against Modi on social media accusing him of peddling “lies” from the Red Fort. “Unlike a PM who fills the Lal Qila with his lies, today we remember former PMs who stood by their words at the Red Fort,” the Congress said on its Twitter handle and posted short videos of former prime ministers Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, P V Narasimha Rao and Manmohan Singh.
 
Hitting out at Modi's claims of fighting black money, Sharma accused the NDA government of promoting “black money hoarding” and “crony capitalism”.
 
“Why has this government not given an account of how much of black money is there in the money that has come back to the RBI vaults,” the former Union Commerce Minister asked.
 
Referring to the Gorakhpur deaths, Sharma said Modi did not reflect the gravity of the situation. “He has in a very trivial manner equated the Gorakhpur tragedy to national calamities,” the Congress leader said.
 
On Modi's assertions against casteism and communalism, Sharma wondered what had prevented the prime minister or home minister from taking action against those who had “created an atmosphere of fear”.
 
Sharma also pointed out that Modi's promise of creating two crore jobs every year but was not talking about employment any more.
 
The Congress leaders said while the prime minister was taking the credit for GST and the fight against black money, he should have shown “some grace and humility” to acknowledge the “constructive cooperation” of the opposition.