KOCHI: Former Union Minister and Congress leader Jairam Ramesh says the progressive, secular and democratic parties in the country will have to come together to end the misrule of the country by the BJP. Ramesh however conceded that bringing all parties in the opposition to an alliance is a difficult and time consuming. “We needed to work out the modalities and it takes time”, he told reporters in Kochi on Saturday. The former minister also said Congress will have to abandon its defensive posture and to turn aggressive in exposing the “maximum publicity and minimum governance” act of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Terming the three-year regime of Mr. Modi as a disaster for the country Ramesh said the government has failed in all fields.
In politics the government is following a policy of vendetta and in social matters a policy of division. The economy has been ruined with the GDP plummeting to 6 percent and destruction of jobs, he said. The Congress leader also lambasted Modi government for the failure in foreign policy and handling of the situation in Kashmir. “Prime Minister Modi has been taking the country for a ride for too long and this needed to be exposed”, he said referring to the claims of the government on fighting black money.
According to him the last two years of the UPA regime helped in recovering Rs 130,000 cr of black money while the Modi regime has managed in recovering only Rs 125,000 cr of the black money despite demonetisation, he said. Mr. Ramesh also challenged the claims of corruption-free governance of the BJP by citing the disappearance of Rs 20,000 cr from Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC) when Modi was Chief Minister, Vyapam Scam and the assets amassed by BJP leaders few days before the demonetisation.
