| Did we store onions, potatoes in banks, Cong asks Jaitley | | | Agencies
New Delhi, July 7 : "Did we take away onions, potatoes and tomatoes and store them in a bank," Congress today said as it took a dig at Finance Minister Arun Jaitley over his remarks blaming the previous UPA regime for rising prices and claimed that "instead of good days, days of tears" had come after the Narendra Modi government took charge at the Centre.
"If they had to take the same steps as we did, then what was the need for a change of government. It is ridiculous," Congress spokesperson Anand Sharma said in response to Jaitley's comment that decisions like the one hiking rail fares were taken when UPA had been in power.
Youth Congress chief Rajiv Satav also took a potshot at the government as he tweeted, "Tum Mujhe Vote Do, Main Tumhe Mehngai doonga (You give me votes, I will give you price rise). Who said to whom?."
At a Congress briefing, Sharma claimed that, apart from making excuses, the NDA government had taken no tangible steps to check rising prices. He also accused the NDA government of showing "callousness" in the matter.
He said that the minimum export price for onions was a measure from the UPA period and charged that the claim by NDA government about having introduced it was "false."
Further, talking about the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, Sharma said it had been "truncated" and now includes only two instead of three members, namely Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Modi. "Government has to come out with a plausible explanation for this mutilation of the ACC," Sharma said.
ACC, which finalises appointments of all senior bureaucrats, will now include only the Prime Minister and the Home Minister in a departure from the practice under the UPA government, which had also brought in the minister in-charge of the ministry concerned into the panel for selection of officials to their departments.
Sharma also alleged that the Prime Minister has "curtailed" the role of ministers. Recalling that Modi had written to the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh opposing the rail fare hike, Sharma asked the BJP-led government to spell out its agenda.
He also accused the goverment of concentrating all powers in one hand and "politicising the bureaucracy" and asked Modi to pay attention to the pressing issues instead of deciding which minister could keep what kind of personal staff.
Sharma also attacked the government over the rejection of former Solicitor General Gopal Subramanian's name for appointment as a judge of Supreme Court.
"The judiciary was slighted in the system of appointment of judges. The issue of independence of the judiciary is important. In an unprecedented manner, the government segregated one name," he said.
The Opposition will raise all such issues through adjournment motion, calling attention motion and other means in Parliament, Sharma said, but claimed that Congress would not be obstructing Parliament like BJP had done during the UPA regime.
Sharma also indicated that Congress will reach out to more parties for floor coordination, saying, "We are ready to work with all those who are willing to attack the government on various issues." |
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