Former Assam Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Tarun Gogoi said on Sunday that the announcement of coronavirus-induced lockdown without consulting the states or experts was the third biggest mistake made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Hitting out at PM Modi, the senior Congress leader said he was a dictator.
In an exclusive interview with India Today TV, Tarun Gogoi said PM Narendra Modi committed his third mistake by announcing lockdown without consulting the states or experts.
“The first blunder he did was demonetisation, the second was the implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST) without proper planning and the third is the announcement of lockdown and implementation of it within few hours without any planning or policy,” Tarun Gogoi said.
“So, this has cost not only our economy, it led to the suffering of humans, hardships of the millions of migrant workers. By announcing lockdown without proper planning, he proved he is not a visionary leader; who couldn’t anticipate such a decision will lead to such a miserable condition,” Gogoi said.
“He [PM Modi] think that he is an expert, he knows everything, he need not consult anybody. This is a tendency of a dictator,” Gogoi said.
The former Assam chief minister further said that the migrant workers have been completely ignored from the Rs 20 lakh crore package announced by the Modi government.
“The first priority should have gone to the migrant labourers who are the most vulnerable people, who lost their jobs, livelihood. But they have been ignored. Not only the migrant labourers, farmers, weavers, milk producers, the people who deal poultry and other animals, small businessmen, traders, daily wage earners, cottage industries have also been ignored,” Tarun Gogoi said.
“I don’t find anywhere that you have given any financial assistance to these people. For the migrant labourers, you must give financial assistance. Mere giving 5 kg rice or wheat is not enough. They need cash for their survival. But you are not providing any cash, any financial assistance to them. There is no provision for waiving loans or giving compensation for losses. You must provide some subsidy,” Tarun Gogoi said.
He further said Rs 20 lakh crore package is just like a loan and the Modi government is now providing loans.
“The people have lost everything. To revive it, you need to provide some subsidy also. But I don’t find anything. All these schemes only reveal that the Modi government is anti-poor. He [PM Modi] waived loans of defaulters, big corporates. Why you can’t provide some financial assistance or waive loans of farmers, small businessmen, and traders,” Gogoi said.
The former Assam Chief Minister also said the Indian economy was deteriorating much before the coronavirus pandemic started.
“I don’t think the Indian economy will not revive soon. The Indian economy was deteriorating much before the corona pandemic started. Rs 20 lakh crore package should have been announced much before,” Tarun Gogoi said.
Leave a Reply