The Opposition in Lok Sabha on Tuesday, 6 February, came down heavily on the BJP-led government over its alleged failure to deliver on its promises, with senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge saying its policies were creating hardships for the people.
Kharge also accused the BJP of trying to sideline the "good work" done by his party over the last 70 years, saying the ruling party could not even understand in the last four years what the Congress has done in the past.
Participating in the debate on the Motion of Thanks for the President's address, the leader of Congress in Lok Sabha said while demonetisation has led to job losses, high Goods and Services Tax (GST) rate has caused hardship to the people.
When we said that the way GST is being implemented is wrong, they didn’t accept it. Before Gujarat elections, they reduced GST rate in 200 items.Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of Opposition, Lok Sabha
Noting that the UPA government had announced Rs 72,000 crore farm loan waiver, Kharge demanded that the Narendra Modi government should also announce such a waiver to help farmers.
"You waive loans worth Rs 1.10 lakh crore of big people, but not for farmers. We demand that farm loans should be waived," he said.
Kharge said the NDA government has budgeted only Rs 60,000 crore for MNREGA, whereas to provide wages to 4 crore BPL households, at least Rs 90,000 crore would be needed.
Kharge said the National Health Protection Scheme announced in the Budget was an "election stunt" and it cannot be implemented with just Rs 2,000 crore outlay.
He said that the Congress government had brought in Aadhaar for identification, but it is being "misused" in the BJP's rule.
He also said that people are anxious as the prices of both petrol and diesel have gone up.
Asking the government to show its concern towards women, Kharge said that women's reservation bill should be brought and passed in the next Session of Parliament
Video Editor: Ashutosh Bhardwaj
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