Modi's 'clean chit' to China hit India's negotiating position: Sonia Gandhi

Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Thursday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "clean chit" to China impacted India's negotiating position with the neighbouring country, while urging her party leaders to "expose" Modi's "rebranding, repackaging and marketing" of the initiatives taken during the UPA government tenure.

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Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi also stressed the party cadre to "equally aggressively" raise the failures of the BJP government in Parliament.

During the CPP general body meeting at Central Hall of the old Parliament building, the CPP chairperson said, "We have been asking for a discussion in both Houses on the grave challenges posed by China on our borders and the shocking clean chit given to it by the Prime Minister on June 19th, 2020. His statement adversely impacted our negotiating position, but that too was refused. Meanwhile, imports from China are booming and destroying our MSMEs that are the main job creators in the economy."

She accused the Modi government of dragging the country into an "abyss".

"Our Constitution will remain on paper and we know their intention is to demolish even that. It is vital for all of us to continue to fight for what is right and just, to expose the Modi government’s failing and intention to turn India into a surveillance state," she said.

Senior Congress leader Sonia Gandhi also said, "Of course, we all know that the Prime Minister has rebranded, repackaged and marketed numerous initiatives taken during 2004-2014 as his own personal accomplishments. That too needs to be exposed through our own public outreach activities."

She added, "I find BJP members aggressively target our state governments, with total falsehoods especially during Zero Hour. I think all of you should be equally aggressive and raise the failures and mis-governance in BJP-ruled states."

Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi also said the government is not accommodative of the Opposition in Parliament.

"Gone are the days when the ruling party was accommodative of the Opposition, when debates and discussions used to take place in both Houses, and as MPs we looked forward to them," she said.

She highlighted instances during the ongoing Parliament session when the Opposition was not allowed to discuss the issues raised by them, including on the functioning of the Election Commission.

The CPP chairperson Sonia Gandhi also expressed concern over Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge "not being given permission" to speak when they wanted to.

"This is quite extraordinary and shocking, designed to prevent the Opposition from raising their concerns that would put the Government on the spot," she said.

On the Waqf Amendment Bill, which was passed in the Lok Sabha, she said, "The Bill is a brazen assault on the Constitution itself. It is very much part of the BJP’s deliberate strategy to keep our society in a state of permanent polarization."

She also said the 'One Nation, One Election Bill' is another "subversion" of the Constitution.

Former Congress President Sonia Gandhi also expressed resentment over the non-implementation of the women’s reservation bill passed by both Houses two years back, saying it "continues to be willfully ignored along with the other demand for one-third reservation for women belonging to scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and OBC communities."

She also said the RTI, MGNREGA, Forest Rights Act, and the Land Acquisition Act—four transformative laws enacted during Manmohan Singh’s Prime Ministership—are markedly getting diluted.

The National Food Security Act, 2013 has ensured food security for over 80 crore Indians, she said. "But, another at least 14 crore have been denied their legal entitlements due to the Modi Government’s unprecedented failure to conduct the Census that was due in 2021," she added.