PM re-packaged our schemes: Congress

The BJP and the Congress were engaged in a verbal duel over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s New Year Eve sops post demonetisation.

The Congress accused Modi of re-packaging the initiatives taken by the UPA government which were not implemented in the true spirit by the NDA dispensation.

Information and Broadcasting Minister Venkaiah Naidu hit out at the Congress saying the main Opposition party was “unable to digest” the benefits the poor would get after the announcements in the prime minister’s speech on Saturday.

“The announcements made by the prime minister will benefit ‘gaon’ (village), ‘gareeb’ (poor) and ‘kisan’ (farmers) and all other sections of the society,” Home Minister Rajnath Singh said in a statement.

The Congress pointed out that two announcements – Rs 6,000 through bank transfer to pregnant women and 4% rebate on housing loans of the poor – were initiatives taken by the UPA under the then prime minister Manmohan Singh.

“The prime minister did not start new schemes at all,” former Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan told a press conference here. “These schemes were started during the UPA regime.”

The Congress said it would intensify protests against the government as the prime minister had “failed” to acknowledge the agrarian distress.

“The prime minister’s address to the nation has left us with no option but to intensify our agitation and go to the people,” said Ahmed Patel, political secretary to Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

Patel is also the co-ordinator for the Congress’ nationwide agitation against demonetisation that was kickstarted last week and is expected to continue throughout January.