As Sonia targets Modi govt, Nadda blames UPA regime

NEW DELHI: Continuing her tirade against the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the border standoff with China, Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday said that the current crisis on the border with China is attributable to the mismanagement of the Bjp-led government and the wrong policies pursued by it.

The crisis on the border, if not tackled firmly, can lead to a serious situation, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said at a meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) on the situation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) –the 3,500-km defacto border with China. Addressing the meeting, Gandhi also hit out at the government for “mercilessly” raising petrol and diesel prices for 17 consecutive days, even when global prices of crude oil were coming down.

“India has been hit by a terrible economic crisis, a pandemic of huge proportions and, now, by a full-blown crisis on the borders with China. Much of each crisis is attributable to the mismanagement of the Bjpled

NDA government and the wrong policies pursued by it,” Sonia Gandhi said at the CWC meeting. The Congress chief also noted that the “mismanagement” of the COVID-19 pandemic will be recorded as one of “most disastrous failures” of the Modi government. Endorsing Gandhi's remarks, Singh said, “The pandemic is not being tackled with the courage and magnitude and effort needed to tackle the crisis. Another instance is the crisis on the border, which if not tackled firmly, can lead to a serious situation.”

In a brazen attack on the Modi government, Rahul Gandhi at the CWC said that there has been a “complete and total failure” of foreign policy under the Modi government.

“The established institutional structure of diplomacy has been demolished by the PM. Our relations with our once friendly neighbours lie in tatters. Our time tested relationship with our traditional allies has been interrupted,” he said.

Meanwhile, BJP'S national president JP Nadda has accused Rahul Gandhi of trying to “divide the nation” and “demoralise” the armed forces during crucial situations. However, Nadda also said that it was the “effect” of the MOU the Congress had signed with the Communist Party of China. “First, Congress signs MOU with the Chinese Communist Party. Then, Congress surrenders land to China. During the Doklam issue, Rahul Gandhi secretly goes to the Chinese embassy. During crucial situations, Rahul Gandhi tries to divide the nation and demoralise armed forces. Effects of MOU?” Nadda said in a tweet. Hitting back at BJP chief JP Nadda for raising the issue of 600 Chinese incursions under the UPA rule, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram said that the saffron party chief will not dare to ask Prime Minister Narendra Modi to explain the “2,264 Chinese incursions since 2015”.