No change in Govt attitude despite poll setback, says Sonia Gandhi

Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday told party MPs that the Modi government was showing no change in its approach despite the reduced majority in its third tenure.

"We would have hoped that the Modi government would draw the right lessons from their significant decline in the Lok Sabha elections. Instead, they are persisting with their policy of dividing communities and spreading an atmosphere of fear and animosity. Fortunately, the Supreme Court intervened at the right time. But this can only be a temporary respite. Look at how the rules have been suddenly changed to permit the bureaucracy to participate in the activities of the RSS. It calls itself a cultural organisation but the whole world knows that it is the BJP's political and ideological base," Gandhi said in her address to the Congress MPs.

She also felt the government was showing no intention of conducting the census. "It is clear that the government has no intention whatsoever to conduct the census that was last due in 2021. This will prevent us from having an up-to-date estimate of the population of the country, especially of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. It also means that at least 12 crore of our citizens are denied the benefit of the National Food Security Act of 2013 -- now repackaged as PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana".


Gandhi stressed on the importance of the upcoming state polls saying that the outcome could have a bearing on national politics but cautioned her colleagues against over-confidence.