'PM is king of advertisement, villain of development'

The Congress on Wednesday alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was misleading the electorate with "hollow claims" of success of various schemes and dubbed him as a "king of advertisement and villain of development".

Congress spokesperson Jaiveer Shergill said Modi focussed only on "event management" and ignored "nation management", alleging that he behaved "like a propaganda minister instead of the prime minister".

He said Modi's promises and claims are like a "mirage" which disappears when seen with the lens of reality.

He alleged that the NDA government's flagship programme Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojna launched on May 1, 2016, has proved a "failure" and must serve as a warning sign to people that Modi cannot and should not be trusted.

"Outgoing Prime Minister Narendra Modi...who behaves less like a prime minister and more like a propaganda minister, is guilty of misleading the electorate of India with hollow claims of success of his government's schemes.

"The prime minister had focused only on advertisement and rank 'zero' on the development...The prime minister is a king of the advertisement but a villain of development. That is a reality," Shergill told reporters.

The Congress leader alleged the prime minister was not giving a report card of his work during his five-year rule as he knew it would be full of "red lines".

"The prime minister in his speeches is only talking about Pakistan because he has done no work in Hindustan...The reality of the BJP government's five-year calendar is an expensive and empty cylinder. The Ujjwala scheme only filled 'gas' in PM Modi's speeches. PM Modi only believes in 'lights, camera but no action'," he said.

Shergill said a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) noted in 2015-16 that households with LPG connections were using an average of 6.27 cylinders a year, but after the scheme was launched, the number came down to 5.6.

"The BJP government has looted the poor and middle-class by raising the LPG gas cylinder price," he added.