Modi undermines RBI autonomy: Rahul

Sandeep Rawat

Tribune News Service

Haridwar, January 16

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi tore into Prime Minister Narendra Modi, accusing him of undermining the autonomy of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in Rishikesh today.

He said the bank was informed about the decision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to scrap the old currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 just a day before its implementation on November 8 last year.

“Is this the way for the Central Government to impose its decision on an institution like the RBI on a monetary matter? Crores of people have been affected by demonetisation only because of the autocratic style of functioning of Modi,” he said, addressing a convention that was held for party workers of the state.

He also flayed the RSS over its “nationalistic agenda”. “Instead of hoisting the Tricolour, a saffron flag had been hoisted at the RSS headquarters in Nagpur from January 26,1950, till 2002. It’s a disrespect to the Tricolour. The Congress has always put the nation before the party. The Tricolour is superior to party symbols, but the RSS-BJP resorted to hoisting the national flag at its headquarters and other events only after public pressure and media attention. During terrorism days in Punjab, more than 15,000 Congress workers were killed. Can the BJP-RSS show the list, if any, of their workers hit by terrorism? They can’t. It’s because they bank on divisive politics,” he said.

Rahul targeted the saffron party over the recent controversy involving Khadi and Village Industries Commission calendar wherein Mahatma Gandhi was replaced by Modi. Showing his “worn-out” kurta to party workers, the three-time Amethi MP accused Modi of wearing suit worth Rs 15 lakh. Modi’s commitment to khadi was fake as his Rs15-lakh suit and charkha couldn’t go together, he said.

In a lighter vein, he said if such things continued, soon Ramlila actors would be seen wearing Modi’s mask.

Accusing the Prime Minister of imposing himself on people, he said Modi talked of democratic ethics but imposed President’s rule in a haste in Uttarakhand and Arunachal Pradesh, which was overruled by the apex court.

“During the Lok Sabha elections in 2014, Modi assured people that black money deposited in foreign bank accounts would be brought back, but he demonetised old currency notes. It has made cash withdrawal a Herculean task for the common man,” he said.

Comparing the Congress-led UPA government’s 10-year tenure (2004-14) with the current NDA government rule, Rahul said, “Right from MGNREGA, OROP and Rs 70,000-crore loan waiver for peasants, the Congress tried help farmers, labourers, Army personnel as well as the common man.”

Urging party workers to reach out to voters, the Congress vice-president said under the governance of Chief Minister Harish Rawat, the Uttarakhand Government had done a commendable job, especially in the aftermath of 2013 Kedarnath flash floods.

Harish Rawat, Kishore Upadhyay, Upper House parliamentarian Pradeep Tamta, state Finance Minister Indira Hridayesh, minister Braham Swarup Brahamchari, state political affairs in-charge Sanjay Kapoor and Congress legislators were present at the convention.

Follow directions: Upadhyay

State Congress chief Kishore Upadhyay urged leaders and workers to pledge to work sincerely for the party irrespective of whosoever got ticket. He said he would not contest the upcoming Assembly elections as he wanted to set an example of putting party before oneself, despite being the president of the state party unit. “Give up personal ambitions and work towards making the party win. The Congress is not a company, but an organisation over 130 years old that took part in the Independence movement and also put the country on the path of development post independence,” he added.

Rawat recalls Rajiv, Indira

Chief Minister Harish Rawat, who entered the mainstream politics in 1977 by defeating veteran Jan Sangh leader Murali Manohar Joshi from Almora when Congress was out of the power, referred to his association with Rahul Gandhi’s grandmother Indira Gandhi and his father Rajiv Gandhi. “I have worked with your (Rahul’s) grandmother and father. It is an emotional moment for me as a Chief Minister to welcome and hear you in Uttarakhand. They were committed to development, and  sacrificed their lives for the country. In you (Rahul), people see their image too,” he added.

Kedarnath pilgrimage on foot, says Cong vice-president

Rahul Gandhi’s twin visits to the revered Kedarnath shrine in Garhwal found mention in the speeches of both Rahul and Harish Rawat several times. Rawat said Rahul Gandhi was the first of the top national leaders to visit the Kedarnath flash flood affected areas in June 2013. He travelled in a car till Sonprayag from Rishikesh to visit the affected areas. Later, Rahul Gandhi said that he was asked by Rawat to again visit Kedarnath shrine in April 2015, when the Char Dham pilgrimage was restored. “But I declined to travel in a helicopter as Lord Shiva pilgrimage can’t be done in helicopter. So I travelled on foot to pay obeisance at the Kedarnath shrine,” he added.