NEW DELHI: Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday described demonetisation and GST as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “double tap” fired to kill the economy and hit out at finance minister Arun Jaitley for his failure to offer an antidote to counter the gloom that has led to joblessness which, he claimed, is a “Modi-made disaster”. Commandos in a hostage situation fire what is called a “double tap” — two quick shots in the chest to ensure that their devil’s target is down, is dead. Speaking at the PHD Chamber of Commerce, the Gandhi scion accused Mr Modi and his government of “killing” the economy by firing the “double tap” of demonetisation and GST into its heart.
He said that GST has unleashed “tsunami of tax terrorism” and Mr Jaitley “has the nerve to say things are just fine”. The rising unemployment in India is a “MMD — Modi-made disaster” — and after three years of the NDA government, India’s expectations are shattered, said Mr Gandhi. Mr Gandhi said ‘Start Up’ India was welcome for the economy, but could not be accompanied by ‘Shut Up India’. He said what gives ‘Start Up’ India its strength is the freedom of expression and dissent. “You choke it and you choke entrepreneurship,” he said. “The trust in this government is dead. For some reason the PM and his government are absolutely convinced that every single person in the country is a thief,” he said.
Hitting back, the BJP took a jibe at Mr Gandhi saying that “Congress vice-president and rhetoric “make a good combination”. The saffron party also accused the Congress of attempting to desperately spread doom, hoping that it will shore up its prospects. Mr Gandhi also attacked the government on the social media, targeting the finance minister by tweeting a comic verse, Aap kehtey hai aap kissi sey kum nahi, magar aapki dava mein dum nahi (You claim you are no less than the others, but your medicines have no strength).” Mr Gandhi’s tweet came a day after Mr Jaitley retorted to Mr Gandhi’s barb on the new tax regime, which the Congress leader had likened to a Bollywood villain.
Highlighting the problems of small and medium sector, Mr Gandhi said, “First notebandi bang and then GST bang, crippled our economy.” The Congress V-P accused the government of unleashing tax terrorism with GST. “The trust in this government is dead. For some reason the PM and his government are absolutely convinced that every single person in the country is a thief. The government does not believe in its people and the people have slowly withdrawn their trust from the government,” he said.
