Congress accuses BJP of 'looting' people, says life of poor didn't improve in 9 years

Attacking the central government led by PM Modi which completed nine years in office last week, the Congress on Monday accused it of "looting" people's earnings through "deadly inflation" while making "arrogant claims" about controlling rising prices.

The Opposition party also said the next few days "ministers and drum-beaters" would harp on the so-called "grand achievements" of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's tenure despite the life and livelihood of those living on the edge of poverty not changing for the better.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge took a dig at the government, accusing it of "looting" people's earnings through "deadly inflation" while making "arrogant claims" about it.

"With deadly inflation in nine years, the BJP looted the public's earnings! GST impacted everything important, spoiled the budget, made life difficult!" Kharge said in a tweet in Hindi.

"Arrogant claims -- 'inflation is not visible' or 'we do not eat this expensive thing at all'. Journey from 'Acche Din' to 'Amrit Kaal', due to inflation, the amount of public loot has increased!" Kharge said.

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh hit out at the government and listed what he said were "real achievements" of the government such as increase in price of basic commodities.

"Over the next few days and weeks we will be inundated by ministers and drum-beaters harping on about the so-called 'grand achievements' of Prime Minister Modi over the last 9 years. But those living on the edge of poverty, barely being able to afford basic necessities will only be asking one thing  has our life and livelihood changed for the better? The answer is NO," Ramesh said on Twitter.

"Here are the real 'achievements' of the Modi govt: Since 2014, Growth Rate for Real Wages- Agriculture labourers: 0.8%; Non-agricultural labourers: 0.2%; Construction workers: minus 0.02%. Meanwhile, price increase for basic commodities since 2014 -- LPG: 169%; Petrol: 57%; Diesel: 78%; Mustard oil: 58%; Atta: 56%; Milk: 51%," he tweeted.

The fact is incomes have stagnated across the board, except of course for a special someone, Ramesh said and claimed that businessman Gautam Adani's wealth had increased by 1,225 per cent since 2014.

The Congress general secretary also shared an article on near-stagnation of real wages in the informal sector.

With Prime Minister Modi completing nine years in office, the Congress had asked him nine questions last week on issues such as rising prices, unemployment and farmers' income, and demanded an apology for the "betrayal" during his tenure.

The Opposition party had also said that the government should mark the day of its anniversary as 'Maafi Diwas'.

The BJP-led government at the Centre completed nine years in office on May 26. It has highlighted the achievements of nine years of the NDA government and said the country has witnessed "all-round development and inclusive growth" under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.