Govt dividing India: Tharoor

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Tuesday rubbished the “tall claims” made by the NDA government regarding its various achievements which found mention in the President’s address to Parliament, saying that fiction replaced facts as the Centre indulged in grandstanding its failures on all fronts, be it economic or political.

Participating in the discussion in the Lok Sabha over the Motion of Thanks on the President’s address, the Congress lawmaker from Thiruvananthapuram was at his sarcastic best, saying that the address was silent on the NDA regime’s pet schemes like Start Up India and Stand Up India and therefore should rather focus on “Shut-Up India” as dissent is not allowed, “Shutdown India” as the last few months have seen maximum number of Internet closures (referring to the shutdown in J&K after abrogation of Article 370) and “Sit Down India” as the government is busy banning stand-up comedians (Kunal Kamra being banned by several airlines).

He said India cannot reach the $5 trillion economy target without a 12 per cent per annum growth and dubbed it as a “pipe dream”. Alleging a fundamental assault on democratic and secular structure of the country, he claimed that the government was dividing the country into “Hindus vs Muslims”, “Us vs They”, “Ramzade vs I won’t say”.

The present dispensation was abrogating its moral responsibility of dealing with the “constitutional and political crisis” facing the country, Mr Tharoor said while participating in the debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s address.

It was up to the people to decide whether the “new India” should be for all or for some.